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THE  NATION  AND 
THE   SCHOOLS 


A  STUDY  IN  THE  APPLICATION  OF  THE  PRINCIPLE 

OF  FEDERAL  AID  TO  EDUCATION 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


BY 

JOHN  A.  H.  KEITH 

PRESIDENT  STATE   NORMAL  SCHOOL 
INDIANA,  PA. 

WILLIAM  C.  BAGLEY 

PROFESSOR  OF  EDUCATION,   TEACHERS 
COLLEGE,  COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY 


Nefo   2§0tfc 

THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
1920 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1920, 
Bv  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  September,  1930. 


NorfoooU  press 

J.  S.  Cushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,   Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

The  purpose  of  this  book  and  the  plan  of  treatment 
are  set  forth  in  Chapter  I.     The  authors  desire  here  to 
acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  Dr.  E.  H.    Reisner 
and  Dr.  I.  L.  Kandel  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia 
University,  for  their  kindness  in  reading  critically  cer- 
tain of  the  chapters  dealing  with  the  historical  develop- 
ment of  Federal  aid  to  education,  and  to  Miss  Frances 
r\   M.  Burke,  of  the  Indiana,  Pa.,  State  Normal  School, 
tj    for  her   painstaking  work   in  preparing  the  statistical 
tables.     Paragraphs  from  an  article  contributed  by  one 
*>  of    the   authors    to  The   New   Republic,  December  13, 

-  1919,  form  part  of  Chapter  XVIII,  and  are  reprinted 
with  the  permission  of  the  publishers.     Of  the  earlier 

-  works  from  which  data  have  been  taken  in  the  con- 

-  struction  of  the  tables,  especial  mention  should  be 
made  of  F.  H.  Swift's  Permanent  Public  Common-School 
Funds  (Henry  Holt  and  Company)  and  E.  P.  Cubberley 
and  E.  C.  Elliott's  State  and  County  School  Adminis- 
tration (The  Macmillan  Company). 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface       v 

Chapter  I.    Introduction i 

National  influence  in  everyday  life,  due  to  the 
nature  of  our  common  needs  —  The  neighborhood 
cannot  remain  isolated  —  The  public  schools,  in 
pattern,  express  the  genius  of  our  people,  the  realiza- 
tion of  this  pattern  by  every  school  is  essential  to 
National  welfare  —  National  aid  to  public  education 
in  the  states  and  the  establishment  of  a  Department 
of  Education  in  the  National  Government  are  neces- 
sary to  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose  and  in- 
volve no  new  principles. 

Chapter  II.    Educational  Conditions  at  the  Close 

of  the  Revolution 8 

State  sovereignty  preceded  our  present  constitu- 
tional government  —  Individualism  and  the  "town 
meeting"  gave  rise  to  the  "district  system"  —  The 
colonial  schools  were  not  free  —  Rate  bills  —  The 
compulsory  rate  —  Compulsory  schools  in  Con- 
necticut —  Schools  in  other  colonies  —  The  colonial 
colleges  —  Universal  education  was  unknown  in 
colonial  days  —  Secularization  began  before  1776 
—  The  bond  of  union  was  hatred  —  The  schools 
were  poor  and  scattered. 

Chapter  III.    The  Great  Stake 14 

The  conflict  over  claims  to  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory was  practically  settled  by  the  Act  of  1780  — 
The  Land  Act  of  1785  provided  for  the  survey  of  this 
territory  and  set  aside  therein  Lot  No.  16  in  every 
township  for  "the  maintenance  of  public  schools 
within  the  said  township" — This  Act  hastened 
the  settlement  of  the  conflicting  land  claims  of  the 
several  "sovereign  and  independent"  states  —  Perma- 
nent funds  for  the  maintenance  of  schools  date  from 
1635  —  Towns  set  aside  lands  for  the  maintenance 
of    schools    (1641)  —  Colonial    governments    granted 


Vlii  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

lands  to  towns  and  counties  (1659)  for  the  support 
of  schools  —  Connecticut  (1726)  reserved  lands  for 
the  schools  and  ministry  and  later  (1733)  created  a 
permanent  fund  the  interest  on  which  was  to  be  ex- 
pended for  the  "support  of  schools  required  by  law" 

—  Georgia  followed  in  1783  and  New  York  in  1785 

—  Land  endowments  for  the  support  of  schools  in 
colonial  days  had  set  the  precedent  for  the  reserva- 
tion of  "Lot  No.  16"  by  the  Land  Act  of  May,  1785. 

Chapter  IV.    The  Endowment  Magnificent         .  22 

The  experiences  of  Ohio  with  "Lot  No.  16"  —  The 
difficulties  of  the  grant  to  separate  townships  —  The 
grant  to  the  state  necessitated  some  equitable  form 
of  distribution  of  the  interest  on  the  funds  derived 
by  the  states  through  the  sale  of  school  lands  — 
The  inadequacy  of  these  "distributable  funds" 
naturally  led  to  state-wide  taxation  to  supplement 
them  — The  extension  of  the  Land  Act  of  1785  to 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  —  The  Oregon  Territory 
Land  Act,  of  1848,  set  aside  sections  sixteen  and 
thirty-six  for  the  public  schools  —  The  original 
states  received  no  land  from  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment —  Exceptional  cases  are  briefly  described  — 
The  "Funds"  thus  derived  were  often  mismanaged 

—  The  free  public  school  was  firmly  grounded  by 
these  grants  of  land  and  became  a  great  induce- 
ment to  settlement  —  The  silence  of  the  Constitu- 
tion on  education. 

Chapter  V.  Land  Grants  for  State  Universities  .  35 
Manasseh  Cutler  secured,  for  the  Ohio  Company, 
a  grant  of  two  townships  "for  the  purpose  of  an 
university"  in  July,  1787 — The  strategy  of  Dr. 
Cutler  —  Educational  proposals  before  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  at  the  time  of  the  grant  to 
the  Ohio  Company  for  a  university  —  The  organiza- 
tion, supervision,  and  administration  of  education 
are  sovereign  functions  reserved  to  the  states  by 
the  Tenth  Amendment  —  This  is  not  in  conflict 
with  the  principle  of  Federal  Aid  to  education  which 
was  operative  before  and  since  that  time  —  The 
Symmes  Purchase  in  Ohio  and  Miami  University 
at  Oxford,  Ohio  —  The  policy  established  by  grants 
to  these  two  colonizing  companies  has  become  the 
policy  of  the  Federal  Government. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  IX 

PAGE 

Chapter  VI.    Other  Federal  Land  Grants  in  Aid  of 

Education 45 

Salt  lands  were  given  by  Congress  to  fourteen  states 
—  Internal  improvement  lands  were  given  to  nine- 
teen states  and  many  used  all  or  a  large  part  of  the 
proceeds  for  public  education  —  Swamp  lands  were 
given  to  fifteen  states  and  many  of  these  devoted  a 
part  or  all  of  the  proceeds  to  public  education  — 
Specific  grants  to  states  admitted  in  1889  and  since 
that  time  have  been  exceedingly  generous. 

Chapter  VII.  Money  Grants  in  Support  or  Education  53 
The  "five  per  cent"  funds,  derived  from  the  sale 
of  public  lands  within  a  state,  have  been  a  substantial 
aid  to  education  in  many  states  —  The  Surplus 
Revenue,  deposited  with  the  states  by  the  Act  of 
June,  1836,  was  largely  used  for  educational  pur- 
poses by  the  several  states  —  The  Distributive  Act 
of  1 84 1  yielded  only  a  small  amount  of  money  and 
for  only  one  year  —  Forest  Reserve  Funds  in  some 
of  the  western  states  yield  a  small  annual  income 
for  support  of  schools  —  Minor  grants  described. 

Chapter   VIII.    The   Morrill  Acts   and   the    "Land- 
grant"  Colleges 64 

The  instruction  offered  by  private  colleges  and 
early  state  universities  did  not  meet  the  needs  of 
pioneers  nor  of  the  gradually  increasing  "working 
man"— The  older  states  still  felt  that  they  should 
have  received,  individually,  some  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  of  the  "public  domain"  —  The  first  bill 
of  Justin  S.  Morrill,  providing  for  "the  establish- 
ment, endowment,  and  maintenance  of  an  agri- 
cultural and  mechanical  college"  in  each  state,  passed 
Congress  in  1859,  and  was  vetoed  by  President  Bu- 
chanan —  The  bill  was  passed  again  in  1862  and  signed 
July  2,  1862,  by  President  Lincoln  —  Scrip  was 
issued  to  each  state,  and  sold  to  individuals  or  land 
companies  —  Most  of  this  scrip  was  sold  at  a  small 
price  —  Ezra  Cornell,  by  careful  planning,  enabled 
New  York  to  create  a  large  endowment  —  These 
"land-grant"  colleges  had  difficulties  during  and 
following  the  Civil  War  — The  Hatch  Act,  of  1887, 
established  an  "Experiment  Station"  in  connection 
with  each  "land-grant"  college  —  The  second  Morrill 


X  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Act,  of  1890,  gave  to  each  "land-grant"  college 
$25,000  a  year  for  its  "more  complete  endowment 
and  maintenance" — The  Adams  Act,  of  1906,  in- 
creased the  Experiment  Station  appropriation  of 
the  Hatch  Act  to  $30,000  a  year  —  The  Nelson 
Amendment  to  the  Second  Morrill  Act  increased 
the  cash  appropriation  to  $50,000  a  year,  making 
the  total  $80,000  a  year  to  each  state  —  The  Smith- 
Lever  Act  of  1 9 14  further  increased  the  funds  of  the 
"land-grant"  colleges  for  extension  work  and  Farmers' 
Institutes  —  This  bounty  on  the  part  of  the  Federal 
Government  has  been  a  great  stimulus  to  the  states 
—  The  public  domain  is  now  too  small  to  provide 
the  revenue  needed  for  further  educational  subven- 
tions by  Congress. 

Chapter  IX.  Specific  National  Educational  Acts  .  83 
The  work  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  during  the  Civil 
War  —  The  Bureau  of  Education  is  inadequately 
supported  and  lacks  prestige  —  Congress  supports 
purely  national  schools  at  West  Point,  Annapolis, 
and  various  other  points. 

Chapter  X.    Federal  Grants  for  Vocational  Educa- 
tion      94 

The  need  for  vocational  education  of  less  than 
college  grade  has  long  been  felt.  Philanthropy  has 
also  been  interested  in  the  worker  —  The  Smith- 
Hughes  Act,  of  191 7,  makes  ample  provision  for 
encouraging  the  states  to  organize  and  expand  voca- 
tional education  —  The  Smith-Hughes  Act  embodies 
several  new  principles  in  connection  with  Federal 
aid  to  education. 

Chapter  XL    The  Principles  Embodied  in  the  Educa- 
tional Acts  of  Congress 101 

The  Federal  Government  has  the  right  to  encourage, 
by  grants  of  land  or  money,  the  establishment  of 
public  schools,  colleges,  and  universities  —  Congress 
has  the  right  to  enter  into  cooperative  arrangements 
with  the  states,  not  violating  the  Tenth  Amend- 
ment, for  specific  educational  purposes,  as  in  "land- 
grant"  colleges  and  the  various  provisions  of  the 
Smith-Hughes  Act  —  Congress  may  encourage  welfare 
work  in  the  states  —  Congress  may  appropriate 
money  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  of  vocational 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS  XI 

PAGE 

education  —  Congress  may  appropriate  money  for 
the  collection  and  dissemination  of  information  about 
education  —  Congress  has  the  right  to  maintain 
schools  for  distinctively  national  ends,  for  the  educa- 
tion of  its  wards,  and  for  the  people  in  its  territories 
or  in  other  lands  over  which  it  exercises  sovereignty 

—  These  principles  are  sufficiently  broad  to  cover 
every  provision  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill. 

Chapter  XII.    The  National  Education  Association 

and  Federal  Aid 107 

The  endowed  universities  have  opposed  Federal 
aid  —  This  opposition  was  clearly  voiced  in  1873  by 
Presidents  McCosh,  of  Princeton,  and  Eliot,  of  Har- 
vard —  The  public  school  men,  generally,  have 
favored  Federal  aid  —  From  1873  until  1890,  the 
N.  E.  A.  favored  using  the  proceeds  of  public  land 
sales  for  the  cause  of  public  education  —  The  re- 
moval of  illiteracy  was  sought  —  Senator  Blair  ap- 
peared before  the  N.  E.  A.  in  1887  and  explained 
his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  removal  of  illiteracy  _ — 
Federal  aid  for  normal  schools  was  specifically  in- 
dorsed in  1876  and  in  1906  —  The  predecessors  of, 
and  the  Smith-Hughes  Bill  itself,  were  indorsed  — 
The  idea  of  a  National  University  and  specific  bills 
in  Congress  establishing  such  a  university  have  been 
favored  —  For  a  half  century,  the  leaders  of  public 
education  have  favored  Federal  aid  to  education, 
the  expansion  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  into  a 
Department  of  Education,  and  a  National  University 

—  This  is  reflected  in  the  resolutions  and  acts  of 
the  N.  E.  A. 

Chapter  XIII.  What  the  War  Revealed  .  .  .120 
War  always  reveals  educational  defects  —  The 
war  brought  out  the  facts  about  illiteracy  in  our 
country  —  The  need  for  Americanizing  the  immi- 
grant population  was  clearly  appreciated  —  The 
inadequate  support  of  education  also  became  evident 

—  The  need  for  equalization  of  educational  opportuni- 
ties and  the  taxation  burden  incident  to  the  support 
of  public  education  was  emphasized  —  Health  de- 
ficiencies also  became  matters  of  common  knowledge 

—  Teaching  was  revealed  as  a  casual  and  temporary 
occupation  largely  made  up  of  young,  immature,  in- 
experienced,   untrained    girls.     The    strength   of    the 


Xll  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


PAGE 


schools,  as  a  means  of  reaching  all  of  the  people, 
became  evident  —  The  N.  E.  A.  appointed  an  Emer- 
gency Commission  to  advise  the  best  procedure  in 
the  crisis  —  The  high  school  and  college  graduates 
readily  developed  the  leadership  necessary  to  pre- 
pare our  troops  for  the  conflict. 

Chapter  XIV.  Current  Proposals  in  Congress  .  .  134 
The  Owen  Bill,  expanding  the  Bureau  of  Education 
into  a  Department,  attracted  some  attention  in  Con- 
gress —  The  Lane  Bill,  prepared  in  the  Department 
of  the  Interior,  is  designed  to  remove  illiteracy  among 
native-born  and  foreign-born,  but  is  poorly  drawn 
and  probably  is  a  violation  of  the  Tenth  Amendment 

—  The  Lane  Bill  seeks  to  remove  illiteracy  simply 
by  educating  existing  illiterates  and  does  not  seek 
to  prevent  the  creation  of  additional  illiterates  —  It 
also  fails  to  meet  the  whole  educational  need  of  the 
country  —  The  Smith-Towner  Bill  seeks  to  expand 
the  public  school  system  so  as  to  meet  the  needs  of 
this  generation  in  a  comprehensive  way  by  providing 
for  the  removal  of  illiteracy,  the  Americanization  of 
foreigners,  the  equalization  of  educational  oppor- 
tunities, the  establishment  of  programs  of  physical 
and  health  education,  the  preparation  of  teachers, 
and  the  creation  of  a  Department  of  Education  in 
the  Government. 

Chapter   XV.    Reduction   of  Illiteracy   among   the 

Native-born 144 

Illiteracy  among  the  native-born  is  decreasing,  but 
at  a  very  discouraging  rate  —  Present  illiterates  should 
be  taught  through  an  expansion  of  the  public  school 
system,  and  the  public  school  system  should  be  so 
remedied  that  no  additional  illiterates  will  develop 

—  Illiterates  in  the  several  states  and  the  allotments 
of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  for  the  removal  of  illiteracy 

—  The  function  of  the  Federal  Government  is  to 
stimulate  the  states  to  undertake  the  removal  of  illit- 
eracy and  not  to  set  up  detailed  methods  and  plans 
in  accordance  with  which  the  work  must  be  done  — 
Statistical  tables  show  that  illiteracy  is  not  decreas- 
ing as  rapidly  as  national  interest  demands  —  The 
states  have  had  the  problem  of  illiteracy  with  them 
since  the  founding  of  the  Union  and  no  one  of  them 
has  worked  out  an  adequate  plan  for  dealing  with  it. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS  X1U 


Chapter  XVI.    Americanization 162 

Immigrants  present   a   triple  educational  problem 

—  Immigrants  enter  this  country  and  move  about 
freely  in  it  under  Federal   Government  regulations 

—  Therefore,  the  states  have  done  little  about  it  — 
Figures  showing  rate  of  increase  of  immigrants  are 
astonishing,  especially  in  view  of  the  enormous  in- 
crease from  countries  in  which  education  is  at  low 
ebb  —  Americanization  problem  more  than  doubled 
in  the  ten  years  from  1900  to  19 10  —  Some  form  of 
Federal  stimulation  is  necessary  to  induce  the  states 
to  Americanize  the  immigrants  within  their  borders 

—  The  number  of  foreign-born  in  each  state,  the 
percentage  of  foreign-born  for  each  state,  and  the 
allotments  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  show  that  it 
is  possible  to  organize  state-controlled  systems  which 
will  Americanize  foreigners. 

Chapter  XVII.  Physical  and  Health  Education  .  173 
HI  health  is  a  constant  economic  and  social  waste. 
The  Surgeon  General's  report  furnishes  interesting 
although  disquieting  data  —  The  Alabama  Survey 
also  shows  alarming  conditions  in  that  state  —  Physical 
fitness  does  not  come  about  simply  through  employ- 
ment —  Education  is  needed  —  What  is  now  being 
done  in  a  few  states  and  in  several  cities  points  the 
way  to  what  ought  to  be  done  everywhere,  but  it 
will  not  be  done  if  left  to  local  or  state  initiative. 

Chapter  XVIII.    The  Weakest  Links    .        .        .        .184 
The  rural  and  village  schools  are  inadequate  finan- 
cially to  meet  the  Nation's  needs  regarding  the  removal 
of  illiteracy,  the  Americanization  of  foreigners,  and 
the  establishment   of  physical  and  health  education 

—  The  rural  school  is  very  inadequate  in  every  state 
of  the  Union  and  part  of  this  is  due  to  the  low  status 
of  teaching  as  a  profession  and  of  the  agencies  for 
the  preparation  of  teachers  —  Sixty  per  cent  of  the 
next  generation  of  American  voters  are  enrolled  in 
rural  schools  —  Rural  schools  are  small  with  low  per 
capita  wealth,  thus  requiring  a  high  tax  rate  to  secure 
good  schools  or  the  expense  of  transportation  to  con- 
solidated schools  —  The  individualism  of  the  Amer- 
ican farmer  is  against  paying  high  wages  —  The 
farmer  is  also  tempted  to  keep  his  children  out  of 
school  —  The  teacher  finds  it  difficult  to  deal  with 


XIV  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


children  of  all  age  limits  and  does  not  have  adequate 
supervision  —  Inadequate  rural  schools  have  pro- 
duced the  excess  of  adult  illiteracy  in  rural  as  com- 
pared with  urban  communities  —  The  rural  school 
also  produces  a  limited  literacy  that  does  not  meet 
national  needs  —  Physical  deficiencies  in  rural  com- 
munities are  more  prevalent  than  in  urban  communi- 
ties —  The  rural  community  has  no  means  of  Amer- 
icanizing the  immigrant  population  resident  therein 

—  The  rural  school  is  proverbially  of  less  average 
length  than  urban  schools  —  It  is  not  fair  to  judge 
all  of  our  schools  by  the  performances  of  our  best 
schools  —  The  common  defense  cannot  be  safe- 
guarded so  long  as  rural  schools  remain  as  they  are. 

Chapter  XIX.    The  Weakest  Links  {Continued)   .        .     208 

The   immature   and  untrained   teacher   can   never 

make  the   rural  school  what   it   ought  to  be  —  The 

best  talent  should  go  into  these  schools  —  The  public 

attitude  toward  public  school  service  should  be  changed 

—  Compensation  for  teaching  should  no  longer  be  a 
gratuity  nor  pin  money  —  It  must  be  otherwise  in 
order  that  teaching  may  become  a  profession  —  The 
business  world  is  competing  for  ability  and  public 
education  must  be  able  to  attract,  train,  and  retain 
youth  of  ability  —  The  personnel  of  the  public  school 
service  analyzed  —  Teachers  in  Alabama  —  Teachers 
in  Nebraska  —  Teachers  in  Wisconsin  —  Teachers 
in  Pennsylvania  —  The  present  shortage  of  teachers 

—  The  factory  plan  of  administration  has  come  into 
existence  as  a  substitute  for  trained  teachers  — 
The  present  inefficiency  of  schools  is  due  to  untrained 
teachers  —  The  normal  schools  are  not  able  to  train 
enough  teachers  for  the  public  school  service  and 
therefore  need  some  form  of  additional  revenue. 

Chapter   XX.     Equalization   of   Educational   Oppor- 
tunities        240 

Taxation  for  the  support  of  schools  developed 
slowly  and  with  much  opposition  —  State  school 
funds  paved  the  way  for  state  school  taxes  —  Pro- 
ceeds were  distributed  —  Table  showing  present  status 
of  educational  funds  in  different  states  —  Equality  of 
educational  opportunity  is  fundamental  to  democracy 
and  it  is  the  business  of  the  state  to  see  that  this 
equality    of    educational    opportunity    becomes    the 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  XV 


opportunity  of  every  boy  and  girl  —  The  teacher  is 
the  key  to  the  situation  —  Educational  and  taxation 
facts  regarding  Wisconsin  and  Pennsylvania  pre- 
sented in  tabular  form  and  discussed  —  Education 
is  a  National  necessity  rather  than  an  individual  — 
The  Nation  has  an  interest  in  every  boy  and  girl  — 
There  are  great  variations  in  the  taxable  wealth  in 
our  different  states  —  Table  showing  per  cent  of 
wealth,  per  cent  of  population,  and  per  cent  of  persons 
of  school  age  stresses  these  conditions  —  Provisions  of 
the  Smith-Towner  Bill  for  equalization  include  setting 
aside  a  portion  of  the  fund  by  the  state  for  the  payment 
of  salaries  of  teachers  so  that  professional  preparation 
will  be  encouraged  —  Table  showing  allotments  for 
equalization  of  educational  opportunities. 

Chapter  XXI.  Preparation  of  Teachers  .  .  .  278 
Every  child  in  the  land  should  have  a  teacher  who 
has  been  especially  selected  and  especially  prepared 
to  teach  —  Teaching  is  a  national  service  as  well  as 
a  state  service  and  a  community  service  —  Leader- 
ship will  always  emerge  —  The  normal  schools,  as  the 
agencies  for  training  teachers  for  the  common  schools, 
have  been  neglected  by  the  states  —  The  Smith- 
Towner  Bill  would  double  the  resources  of  teacher- 
training  institutions  —  The  equalization  of  educational 
opportunities  will  make  rural  school  teaching  more 
attractive  —  The  Smith-Towner  Bill  makes  possible 
the  application  of  the  West  Point  policy  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  teachers  —  The  Nation  has  a  responsibility  in 
this  matter  —  A  study  of  the  facts  regarding  teachers, 
population,  children  of  school  age,  and  the  average 
salary  of  teachers  taken  in  connection  with  the  wealth 
of  the  several  states  convinces  one  of  the  necessity  for 
national  aid  to  teacher-training  institutions. 

Chapter  XXII.  A  Department  of  Education  .  .  293 
A  Department  of  Education  is  created  by  the 
Smith-Towner  Bill  following  the  precedent  of  the 
non-executive  departments  such  as  the  Departments 
of  Agriculture,  Commerce,  and  Labor  —  Congress  has 
no  power  to  control  agriculture  or  labor  or  education, 
but  it  can  be  helpful  to  each  without  control  —  A 
Department  of  Education  is  needed  to  prepare  a 
budget  for  the  present  educational  activities  of  the 
United  States  —  A  Department  of  Education  is  needed 


XVI  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


to  integrate  the  various  educational  activities  of  the 
Federal  Government  and  to  coordinate  and  integrate 
the  forces  of  the  Nation  —  A  Department  of  Educa- 
tion is  needed  to  represent  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  the  solution  of  international  educational 
problems  —  A  Department  of  Education  is  needed  to 
give  to  education  the  status,  dignity,  and  influence 
that  it  should  have  in  a  great  democracy  —  A  Federal 
Board  of  Education  would  be  wholly  inadequate  to  the 
needs  of  the  country  —  The  authority  conferred  on  the 
Secretary  of  Education  is  such  that  no  one  need  fear 
domination  from  Washington — The  Secretary  of  Edu- 
cation would  be  appointed  by  the  President,  but  it  is 
unthinkable  that  any  President  would  make  previous 
party  service  a  condition  of  appointment. 

Chapter  XXIII.    In  Conclusion 309 

Congress  may  appropriate  money  as  well  as  land  for 
the  "maintenance  of  public  schools"  —  The  allotments 
of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  are  really  subventions  — 
Each  grant  of  money  is  conditional  on  the  perform- 
ance of  the  states  —  A  piecemeal  method  of  educating 
each  and  every  community  and  each  and  every  state 
to  the  national  point  of  view  is  inadequate  to  the 
present  crisis  —  The  Smith-Towner  Bill  follows  the 
unquestioned  precedent  already  set  up  by  the  National 
Government  —  The  Sixteenth  Amendment  provides 
for  taxes  on  incomes  —  The  money  thus  derived  can 
be  used  for  educational  purposes  and  because  of  the 
relationship  between  education  and  wealth,  it  seems 
particularly  fitting  —  Wealth  is  not  wholly  or  even 
chiefly  a  matter  of  state  lines  —  The  states  are  inter- 
dependent educationally,  commercially,  and  indus- 
trially —  The  Federal  Government  can,  by  sub- 
ventions, realize  educational  ends  as  truly  as  if  its 
sovereignty  included  education  —  A  Department  of 
Education  is  needed  to  make  effective  the  educational 
work  which  this  country  now  does,  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  provisions  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill, 
and  for  the  leadership  which  it  would  give  to  public 
education  in  this  country. 

Appendix  A 325 

Table  showing  land  and  scrip  granted  to  the  states 
and  territories  for  educational  aid  and  other  purposes. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  XVU 

PAOl 

Appendix  B 334 

Swamp  and  overflowed  lands  granted  to  different 
states  —  A  table  showing  cash  and  land  indemnity 
given  to  the  several  states. 

Appendix  C 336 

A  complete  text  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill. 

Appendix  D 350 

Non-English  speaking  elements  in  the  population. 

Index 355 


THE  NATION  AND  THE 
SCHOOLS 

CHAPTER   I 

Introduction:   The  National  Problem  in 
Education 

More  and  more  insistently  the  outstanding  problems 
in  American  life  are  becoming  national  problems,  and 
their  solution  is  being  sought  on  a  national  basis.  The 
Federation  of  sovereign  states  which  was  brought 
into  existence  primarily  to  provide  for  the  common 
defense  has  come  slowly  but  surely  to  concern  itself 
in  increasing  measure  with  the  general  and  internal 
welfare  of  its  component  units.  To  the  organization 
and  control  of  the  army  and  navy,  the  regulation  of 
customs  duties,  the  operation  of  the  postal  service, 
and  the  management  of  foreign  affairs,  it  has  added 
with  each  succeeding  decade  new  and  unexpected  types 
of  domestic  responsibilities.  Its  influence  to-day,  well- 
nigh  paramount  in  transportation,  is  felt  with  almost 
equal  force  in  banking,  mining,  and  manufacturing; 
the  productivity  of  the  fields  and  the  forests  has  long 
been  an  object  of  its  interest  and  its  bounty ;    and  its 


2  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

recent  efforts  toward  the  improvement  of  public  health 
and  social  hygiene  have  met  with  a  degree  of  success 
that  has  commanded  popular  approval. 

It  is  futile  to  affirm  that  this  strong  and  pervasive 
tendency  toward  nationalism  has  been  the  result  of 
anything  less  powerful  and  significant  than  imperative 
and  fundamental  needs.  It  may  be  that  designing 
individuals  or  partisan  groups  have  sought  to  impose 
a  centralized  government  upon  an  unsuspecting  people ; 
if  so,  their  puny  efforts  could  have  neither  facilitated 
nor  retarded  the  deep-lying  currents  that  were  already 
sweeping  aside  all  obstacles  in  their  course.  Every  dis- 
covery of  science,  every  invention  in  the  arts,  every 
advance  in  industry  has  worked  throughout  the  coun- 
try toward  interdependence  and  unity,  toward  a  multi- 
plication of  common  needs,  common  ideals,  and  common 
aspirations,  and  toward  an  insistent  demand  for  the 
kind  of  far-reaching  collective  action  that  will  meet 
these  needs  and  realize  these  ideals  and  aspirations 
quickly  and  effectively.  It  has  been  through  the  pres- 
sure of  these  forces,  —  impersonal,  objective,  and  irre- 
sistible, —  that  the  Federation  has  become  a  Union, 
and  the  Union  a  Nation. 

If  it  is  true,  however,  that  impersonal  and  objective 
forces  have  worked  toward  the  primacy  of  the  Nation, 
it  is  no  less  true  that  they  have  so  far  wrought  the 
transformation  with  little  appreciable  weakening  of  the 
institutions  of   local   self-government.     The   American 


THE    NATIONAL   PROBLEM   IN   EDUCATION  3 

people  are  thinking  in  terms  of  a  larger  unit,  but  it 
is  still  the  people  who  are  thinking,  and  as  long  as 
this  fact  remains,  the  dangers  of  paternalism  will  be 
negligible.  The  boundaries  of  the  community  have 
been  widened,  but  the  essential  condition  is  unchanged 
—  the  community  is  still  a  community.  What  was 
democratically  fit  and  proper  for  the  little  isolated 
neighborhood  may  still  retain  its  democratic  fitness 
and  propriety  when  the  neighborhood  is  no  longer 
little  or  isolated.  In  certain  essential  matters  to-day, 
the  "neighborhood"  can  be  no  smaller  than  the  Nation 
itself.  To  approximate  in  this  larger  unit  the  condi- 
tions of  common  knowledge,  common  understanding, 
and  common  standards  of  right  and  worth  that  char- 
acterized the  smaller  unit  is  the  safeguard  that  must 
be  raised  against  any  evils  that  may  lie  in  centralization. 

To  erect  such  a  safeguard  is  the  manifest  duty  of 
the  only  great  collective  enterprise  that  has  not  as  yet 
been  touched  and  quickened  by  the  spirit  of  the  new 
nationalism,  —  the  public  school.  The  most  powerful 
and  the  most  fundamental  force  that  could  be  em- 
ployed to  preserve  and  extend  the  essential  conditions 
of  American  democracy  has  not  as  yet  been  explicitly 
and  systematically  directed  toward  this  end. 

The  public  schools  of  the  United  States  typify  in 
many  ways  the  genius  of  our  people.  They  represent 
in  theory  the  basic  principles  of  democracy.  Among 
the   educational   systems  of   the  modern  world,   they 


4  THE    NATION   AND    THE    SCHOOLS 

are  almost  alone  in  their  freedom  from  the  stratifying 
influences  of  caste  or  class.  In  pattern  and  in  form, 
they  express  clearly  and  consistently  the  most  char- 
acteristic of  our  national  ideals  —  the  ideal  of  equality 
of  opportunity.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  Nation's 
needs,  however,  the  virtues  of  our  schools  are  potential 
rather  than  dynamic.  It  is  the  pattern  and  the  ideal 
rather  than  the  performance  that  commands  the  admira- 
tion of  the  informed  observer  from  abroad.  Our  schools 
are  good  —  excellent  —  in  certain  localities ;  but  taken 
in  the  aggregate,  they  are  inefficient  in  a  measure  that 
the  war  crisis  and  its  aftermath  have  clearly  revealed. 
The  heavy  total  of  illiteracy  among  our  native-born 
population  is  a  charge  against  the  school  system;  the 
"limited  literacy"  which  the  Army  tests  found  to 
characterize  one  soldier  out  of  every  four  can  be  ex- 
plained only  by  the  inadequacy  of  our  lower  schools; 
the  relatively  high  proportion  of  physical  deficiency 
which  the  draft  brought  to  fight  constitutes  an  edu- 
cational problem ;  and  the  need  of  an  effective  education 
in  American  citizenship  imposes  upon  the  public  schools 
a  national  duty  not  hitherto  clearly  recognized. 
^  The  emergency  that  to-day  confronts  American 
'education  is  likewise  a  symptom  of  a  national  weak- 
ness that  cries  out  for  correction.  The  policy  that 
has  denied  to  public-school  service  the  rewards  and 
recognitions  essential  to  make  it  attractive  as  a  perma- 
nent calling  finds  its  consistent  outcome  in  the  present 


THE   NATIONAL   PROBLEM   IN   EDUCATION  5 

acute  shortage  of  teachers  for  the  lower  schools.  In 
the  fall  of  1919,  it  was  estimated  that  a  half  million 
children  were  out  of  school  because  teachers  could  not 
be  found  for  them.  One  million  more  were  under  the 
instruction  of  teachers  who  were  unable  to  meet  the 
lowest  standards  of  a  licensing  system  already  far  too 
low  in  its  requirements.  During  the  winter  many 
schools  that  had  opened  in  the  fall  were  forced  to  close 
because  their  funds  had  been  exhausted.  And  added 
to  all  this  there  was  an  alarming  falling-off  in  the  en- 
rollment of  the  institutions  that  prepare  public-school 
workers. 

Unless  remedial  measures  are  soon  taken,  these 
conditions  will  become  progressively  worse.  The  situa-* 
tion  that  they  reveal  is  not  local  and  sporadic,  but 
nation-wide  and  general-  It  constitutes  a  state  problem 
and  a  local  problem,  but  far  more  fundamentally  it 
constitutes  a  national  problem  of  the  first  magnitude. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  our  educational  system 
is  threatened  with  disruption  at  the  very  point  where 
its  strength  and  stability  are  most  significant  to  the 
Nation's  life. 

How  the  public  schools  may  be  made  efficient  upon 
a  nation-wide  basis  is  the  problem  for  which  the  follow- 
ing chapters  will  attempt  to  outline  a  solution.  The 
solution  that  will  be  proposed  involves  nothing  revolu- 
tionary. The  Nation  has  already  established  a  policy 
of    Federal    aid    for    education.      This    policy,    which 


7 


6  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

antedates  the  Constitution,  has  been  strengthened  and 
developed  during  the  period  of  our  national  life.  It 
constitutes  to-day  a  safe  and  tested  framework  upon 
which  to  build  the  needed  extensions.  There  is  no 
thought  here  of  a  national  control  of  public  education. 
This  would  be  without  warrant  or  justification.  What 
is  needed  is  a  measure  of  Federal  cooperation  that  will 
correct  the  underlying  defects  resulting  from  a  narrow 
and  inadequate  conception  of  educational  responsibil- 
ity, —  a  type  of  cooperation  that  will  stimulate  the 
people  to  see  their  state  and  local  educational  problems 
in  a  national  perspective,  and  that  will  make  the  pro- 
vision of  good  schools  and  good  teachers  in  every 
community  a  matter  of  duty  to  the  Nation  and  of 
fidelity  to  the  ideals  for  which  the  Nation  stands. 

The  first  part  of  the  book  briefly  outlines  the  his- 
torical development  of  the  policy  of  Federal  aid,  with 
the  attempt  to  show  how  this  policy,  well-intentioned 
but  defective  at  the  outset,  has  been  gradually  refined 
through  progressive  legislation  to  the  point  where  its 
much  wider  extension  in  the  form  of  national  sub- 
ventions is  clearly  justified.  Following  this  historical 
survey,  the  present  situation  is  analyzed  and  the  de- 
ficiencies revealed  by  the  war  are  traced  to  their 
causes.  The  measures  now  before  Congress  looking 
toward  the  remedy  of  one  or  more  of  these  deficiencies 
are  then  considered.  Of  these,  the  Smith-Towner  Bill, 
as  representing  the  most  comprehensive  proposals,  is 


THE   NATIONAL   PROBLEM   IN   EDUCATION  7 

selected  for  detailed  treatment  and  the  remaining 
chapters  are  devoted  to  a  study  of  its  provisions  and 
of  the  educational  conditions  which  they  seek  to  im- 
prove. In  this  connection  the  two  most  serious  weak- 
nesses of  American  education,  —  the  rural  schools  and 
the  policies  and  agencies  for  the  preparation  of  teachers, 
—  are  given  especial  emphasis  and  attention.  The 
book  concludes  with  a  discussion  of  the  proposal  to 
restore  the  present  Federal  Bureau  of  Education  to 
its  original  status  as  a  department  of  the  Government, 
and  to  make  it  an  executive  department  with  a  cabinet 
officer  —  a  Secretary  of  Education  —  at  its  head.'" 

The  book,  in  brief,  is  a  collection  of  fact  and  argu- 
ment designed  to  show  that  the  Nation  is,  in  a  very  real 
sense,  an  educational  unit,  that  the  Federal  Government 
should  assume  a  fair  proportion  of  the  cost  of  maintain- 
ing schools  throughout  the  country,  and  that  there 
should  be  established  in  Washington  an  adequate  agency 
through  which  the  educational  needs  of  the  Nation  as  a 
Nation  may  be  made  vocal. 


CHAPTER   II 

Educational  Conditions  at  the  Close  of  the 
Revolution 

It  is  difficult  for  one  of  this  generation  to  go  back, 
even  in  imagination,  one  hundred  thirty-seven  years  to 
the  time  when  Great  Britain  signed  treaties  of  peace 
with  the  thirteen  Colonies  in  America  recognizing  each 
as  "a  sovereign  and  independent  State."  The  images 
necessary  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  life  of  that  day 
are  not  within  the  experience  of  most  of  us.  If  it 
be  true  that  the  ideals  and  acts  of  that  distant  time 
have  influenced,  and  still  influence,  our  daily  lives,  it 
is  important  for  us  to  know  something  of  them  that  we 
may  understand  the  genesis  of  our  present  problems 
and  act  intelligently  with  respect  to  the  present  and 
to  the  future  that  ever  has  its  roots  in  a  past  that  was 
once  a  present. 

Our  colonial  fathers  were  afraid  of  a  centralized 
authority.  They  lived  in  a  day  in  which,  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind,  it  was  necessary  to  assert  at  every  point 
the  "divine  right  of  the  individual"  as  opposed  to  the 
"divine  right  of  kings,"  —  and  they  did  it  most  success- 
fully. The  "town  meeting"  developed  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  was  copied  in  many  of  the  other  colonies. 

8 


EDUCATIONAL  CONDITIONS  AT   CLOSE   OF  REVOLUTION      9 

Fundamentally,  it  expressed  the  right  of  a  compact 
and  relatively  isolated  group  of  people,  with  common 
interests  and  common  ideals,  to  control,  as  a  group,  its 
own  affairs.  It  did  not  go  to  that  limit  of  individualism 
which  is  destructive  of  all  government,  but  it  clearly 
emphasized  the  right  of  "Hke-minded"  people,  living 
in  small  communities,  to  direct  their  own  affairs  in  their 
own  way. 

It  was  out  of  this  firm  belief  in  the  autonomy  of  the 
small  like-minded  group  that  the  so-called  "district 
system"  of  public-school  administration  was  born.  Be- 
cause the  principles  of  self-determination  and  local  self- 
government  appealed  to  the  struggling  settlers  through- 
out the  colonies  and  on  the  frontier,  the  "district  sys- 
tem" became  the  almost  universal  pattern  for  the  control 
of  public  schools  wherever  such  schools  were  organized. 

The  colonial  schools  were  not  free  in  the  sense  that 
our  present  schools  are  free.  At  first  they  were  sup- 
ported entirely  by  a  tuition  charge  paid  by  the  parents. 
Later,  public  moneys,  in  small  amounts,  were  voted  by 
the  town  meeting  to  eke  out  the  tuition  charges.  These 
appropriations  were  supplemented  by  rate  bills,  —  a 
tax  on  the  parents  and  guardians  of  children  attending 
the  school.  These  rate  bills  were  authorized  by  the  town 
meeting  and  were  collectible  by  legal  processes  of  seizure 
and  sale  of  property.1 

1  One  is  likely  to  think  of  the  rate  bills  as  a  method  of  supporting 
public  schools  belonging  to  a  very  remote  past.    The  following  table, 


IO  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

Schools  supported  in  part  by  voluntarily  determined 
rate  bills  followed  the  original  subscription  schools. 
The  next  step  was  a  compulsory  rate  on  all  the  inhabi- 
tants, first  appearing  in  the  Plymouth  Colony  in  1677. 
In  the  same  year  Connecticut  provided  compulsory 
rates  "except  any  town  shall  agree  to  some  other  way 
to  raise  the  maintenance  of  him  they  shall  employ  [to 
conduct  a  Latin  school]." l  In  this  matter,  indeed, 
Connecticut  really  led  the  way,  for  its  famous  Code  of 
1700  provided:  (1)  That  every  town  of  seventy  house- 
holders or  more  must  maintain  a  school  eleven  months ; 

(2)  that  every  town  of  fewer  than  seventy  householders 
must  maintain  a  school  for  at  least  six  months;    and 

(3)  that  towns  must  levy  a  school  tax  of  40  shillings  on 
every  1000  pounds.2 

The  population  of  Pennsylvania  was  a  conglomerate 
of  different  religious  sects  up  to  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 

prepared  from  material  in   Swift's  Public  Permanent  Common  School 
Funds  (p.  27),  may  dispel  any  illusion  we  may  have  had  on  this  matter. 


Rate  Bills  Abolished 

Massachusetts     .     .     .  1827  Iowa     .     .     . 

Delaware 1829  New  York 

Pennsylvania  ....  1834  Rhode  Island 

Florida 1869  Connecticut  . 

Vermont 1850  Arkansas   .     . 

Indiana 1851  Virginia     .     . 

Ohio 1853  Utah     .     .     . 


1858 
1867 
1868 
1868 
1868 
1870 
1890 


Other  states  do  not  appear  in  this  table  because  they  conducted  their 
schools  at  public  expense  for  a  very  short  term  each  year,  permitting  a 
longer  term  by  rate  bills  or  by  subscription,  at  the  option  of  the  district. 

1  Com.  of  Edn.  Report,  1892-3,  p.  1239.  2Ibid.,  p.  1245. 


EDUCATIONAL  CONDITIONS  AT  CLOSE  OF  REVOLUTION      II 

tionary  period,  and  the  schools  —  the  few  that  existed 
—  were  connected  with  the  churches.  The  "doctrine  of 
the  inner  light"  *  held  in  common  by  the  Quakers  and 
the  German  sects  was  not  conducive  to  the  organization 
of  schools.  Ability  to  read  the  Bible  was  ample  edu- 
cation for  all  of  life's  duties  and  responsibilities. 

In  Virginia  and  other  colonies  of  the  South,  the 
plantation  life  rendered  schools  of  the  present  type 
practically  impossible.  There  were  some  "plantation 
schools";  subscription  schools  were  found  in  the  few 
large  towns;  while  for  the  large  majority  of  the  land- 
holders, a  tutorial  system  in  the  planters'  homes 
sufficed.  In  certain  communities,  too,  an  effort  was 
made  to  teach  the  rudiments  of  reading  to  the  children 
of  the  poor. 

On  the  whole,  colleges  were  more  successful  in  the 
colonial  period  than  were  public  schools  as  we  now  know 
them.  The  need  of  an  "educated  ministry"  was 
keenly  felt  and,  in  part,  provided  for.  Harvard  was 
founded  in  1636 ;  William  and  Mary  in  1693 ;  Yale, 
1 701 ;  Princeton,  1746;  Pennsylvania,  1749;  King's 
(Columbia),  1754;  Brown,  1764;  Dartmouth,  1769; 
Queen's  (Rutgers),  1770;  Hampden-Sidney,  1776; 
Washington  and  Lee,  1782;  Washington  University 
(Maryland),   1782.     Preparation  for  college  demanded 

1  For  an  illuminating  treatment  see  Fisher's  The  Making  of  Penn- 
sylvania, pp.  43-64.  As  to  the  Germans  in  Pennsylvania  in  colonial 
times,  see  the  same  volume,  pp.  1 19-127. 


12  THE    NATION    AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

tutors  in  the  South  and  the  grammar  school  in  New 
England. 

Generally  speaking,  however,  the  education  of  the 
great  masses  of  people  —  "universal"  education — was 
not  only  an  unrealized  ideal ;  it  was  scarcely  recognized 
as  a  worthy  ideal,  except  for  the  religious  sanction 
that  attached  to  ability  to  read  the  Bible ;  and,  outside 
of  New  England,  the  training  requisite  to  this  end  was 
usually  held  to  be  the  duty  of  the  home.  And  yet 
the  secular  and  civic  sanctions  for  education  were  even 
then  beginning  to  take  root.  "  The  laws  .  .  .  prior  to 
1876  .  .  .  show  the  state  beginning  to  recognize  the 
importance  of  education  for  her  own  welfare,  and  begin- 
ning to  contribute  to  the  support  thereof,  but  leaving 
unto  the  church  a  large  measure  of  control  in  the  super- 
vision and  administration  of  schools."1 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  then,  we  had 
thirteen  "sovereign  and  independent  States"  scattered 
along  the  Atlantic  coast,  each  spent  with  the  long 
struggle  for  independence,  each  feeling  some  distrust 
of  every  other,  each  with  its  traditions  of  individual 
liberty  and  local  autonomy,  —  modified  only  by  the 
belief  of  each  that  its  own  views  of  life,  religion,  and 
statecraft  ought  to  be  universally  accepted. 

These  separate  states,  in  their  years  of  struggle  for  the 
realization  of  common  aims,  had  been  brought  together 

1 S .  W .  B  ro  wn :  The  Secularization  of  A  merican  Education.  New  York , 
1912,  p.  155. 


EDUCATIONAL  CONDITIONS  AT  CLOSE  OF  REVOLUTION       13 

under  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  —  a  covenant  so 
loose  that  its  weaknesses  seemed  to  spell  disaster  for 
any  plan  of  union.  The  three  and  a  half  million  inhab- 
itants of  the  thirteen  states  were  widely  scattered. 
Means  of  communication  were  few  and  inadequate.  It 
was  difficult  for  one  group  to  know  what  others  were 
doing  or  how  they  felt.  The  strongest  bond  of  union 
was  found  in  a  common  hatred  —  in  a  negative  rather 
than  in  a  positive  ideal.  The  schools  —  few,  small, 
and  scattered  —  shared  in  the  disasters  and  dissensions 
which  the  long  years  of  war  had  brought. 


CHAPTER   III 

The  Great  Stake 

In  colonial  days  there  had  been  many  quarrels  over 
conflicting  claims  to  the  territory  that  lay  west  of  the 
narrow  fringe  of  settlements  along  the  seaboard.  Even 
during  the  progress  of  the  war  against  the  Mother  Coun- 
try, the  adjustment  of  these  claims  and  the  disposal  and 
settlement  of  the  domain  involved  gave  rise  to  bitter 
disputes.  In  1778,  the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland 
agreed  not  to  sign  the  Articles  of  Confederation  unless 
the  crown  lands  that  were  unsettled  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war  should  become  the  common  property  of  all  the 
states  "to  be  parceled  out  by  Congress  into  free,  con- 
venient, and  independent  governments  in  such  manner 
and  in  such  time  as  the  wisdom  of  that  assembly  shall 
hereafter  direct."  The  claims  of  Virginia,  New  York, 
Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut  were  hopelessly  in- 
volved. Virginia  started  to  sell  her  western  lands  in 
1779  and  the  Continental  Congress,  recognizing  that 
such  a  step  would  threaten  the  weak  bonds  that  held  the 
states  together,  urged  her  to  stop  and  also  begged  the 
other  states  to  do  nothing  with  their  lands  until  the  war 
should  be  over. 

14 


THE    GREAT    STAKE  I 5 

This  land  controversy  not  only  did  not  help  the 
prosecution  of  the  war ;  it  delayed  as  well  the  ratification 
of  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  In  the  efforts  to 
settle  the  matter,  Congress  passed,  in  October,  1780,  a 
resolution  that  pledged  its  attitude  and  intention  as 
follows : 

(1)  That  the  western  territory  claimed  by  the  states 
should  be  disposed  of  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the 
states. 

(2)  That  it  should  be  divided  into  states  ultimately 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Confederation  upon  a  footing 
equal  in  all  respects  to  that  of  the  original  states. 

(3)  That  the  expenses  incurred  by  any  state  in 
subduing  British  posts  and  in  acquiring  and  defending 
the  western  territory  should  be  reimbursed. 

(4)  That  the  manner  and  condition  of  the  sale  of 
the  lands  in  dispute  should  be  exclusively  regulated  by 
Congress.1 

This  action  by  Congress  had  a  salutary  effect.  In 
March,  1781,  New  York  gave  up  her  claim  to  the 
disputed  territory.  In  October,  1783,  Virginia  ceded 
her  lands,  making  only  a  reservation  of  about  three 
million  seven  hundred  thousand  acres  between  the 
Little  Miami  and  Scioto  rivers  in  Ohio,  as  bounty  for 
her  troops.  Massachusetts  ceded  her  lands  in  April, 
1785,  without  reservations.  A  month  later,  May,  1785, 
Congress  adopted  a  plan  for  the  disposal  of  this  new 
1  Journals  of  Congress,  VI,  p.  213. 


1 6  THE  NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

national  territory.  The  lands  were  to  be  divided 
"into  townships  six  miles  square";  each  township  was 
to  be  subdivided  into  thirty-six  lots,  one  mile  square ; 
the  lines  of  these  640-acre  lots  were  to  be  run  in  the 
same  direction  as  the  external  lines  of  the  townships 
and  the  lots  were  to  be  numbered  from  1  to  36.  Out 
of  every  township,  the  four  lots  numbered  8,  11,  26,  29, 
were  reserved  by  the  United  States  Government  for 
future  sale;  and  the  lot  No.  16  of  every  township  was 
dedicated  to  "the  maintenance  of  public  schools  within 
the  said  township." 

With  the  intention  and  pledge  which  this  "Land 
Ordinance"  of  May,  1785,  clearly  stated,  Connecticut 
made  her  first  cession  in  September,  1786,  and  her 
second  one  in  1800.  South  Carolina  completed  her 
cession  in  August,  1787.  In  December,  1789,  North 
Carolina  ceded  her  claims  to  Tennessee.  Georgia's 
cession  of  her  claim  on  lands  west  of  the  Chatta- 
hoochee River,  made  in  August,  1788,  was  not  finally 
completed  until  April,  1802,  on  account  of  the  Yazoo 
Land  Company's  troubles.  With  this  one  exception, 
however,  and  for  all  practical  purposes,  the  cession  to 
the  United  States  of  the  lands  claimed  by  the  states 
had  been  completed  by  the  beginning  of  1 790,  — 
that  is,  within  ten  years  of  the  declaration  of  intention 
and  pledge  made  by  Congress  in  October,  1780.  The 
Congressional  action  of  May,  1785,  which  directed  that 
Lot  No.  16  should  be  reserved  "for  the  maintenance 


THE    GREAT    STAKE 


17 


of  public  schools  within  the  said  township"  was  five 
years  from  the  beginning  and  five  years  from  the  end 
of  the  decade.1 

The  action  of  Congress  in  setting  aside  Lot  No.  16  of 
each  township  for  the  support  of  schools  was  an  event  of 
prime  importance  in  American  history.  It  will  be  well 
to  trace  the  development  of  the  ideals  and  policies  which 
resulted  in  this  action. 

The  first  permanent  funds  for  the  maintenance  of 
schools  in  this  country  took  the  form,  in  part,  of  private 
endowment  through  the  donation  of  lands.  Benjamin 
Simms  of  Virginia,  by  his  will  of  1635,  gave  "two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  with  the  milk  and  increase  of  eight 
cows,  for  the  maintenance  of  an  earnest  and  honest 

1  It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  areas  of  the  states  created  out  of 
this  vast  public  domain  with  the  areas  of  the  original  states. 


Area  in 

Made  from  Ceded 

Area  in 

Original  States 

Square  Miles 

Domain 

Square  Miles 

1 .  New  Hampshire  . 

9,341 

I. 

Ohio    .... 

41 ,040 

2.  Massachusetts     . 

8,266 

2. 

Indiana    . 

36,354 

3.  Rhode  Island  .     . 

1,248 

3- 

Illinois 

56,665 

4.  Connecticut 

4,965 

4- 

Michigan . 

57,98o 

5.  New  York  . 

49,204 

5- 

Wisconsin 

56,056 

6.  New  Jersey 

8,224 

6. 

Tennessee 

42,022 

7.  Pennsylvania 

45,126 

7- 

Alabama  . 

51,998 

8.  Delaware    . 

2,307 

8. 

Mississippi 

46,865 

9.  Maryland  . 

12,327 

9- 

Kentucky 

40,598 

10.  Virginia 

42,627 

11.  North  Carolina  . 

52,426 

12.  South  Carolina    . 

30,989 

13.  Georgia      .     .     . 

59,265 

326,315 

429,528 

1 8  THE    NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

man  to  keep  a  free  school  for  the  education  of  the 
children  of  the  parishes  of  Elizabeth  City  and  Kiquo- 
tan."  In  1636,  Captain  John  Mason  left  one  thousand 
acres  of  land  "for  maintaining  a  free  grammar  school 
for  the  education  of  youth  in  New  Haven."  There 
were  many  examples  of  such  personal  grants  in  colonial 
days. 

Public-land  grants  for  education  closely  followed 
these  private  benefactions.  For  the  maintenance  or 
support  of  a  school,  Boston  reserved  Deer  Island 
(1641),  Dorchester  reserved  Thompson's  Island  (1639), 
and  later  (1657)  added  one  thousand  acres  of 
land.  This  step  was  followed  by  the  granting  of 
lands  by  the  colonial  governments  to  towns  or  coun- 
ties for  the  support  of  schools.  Each  of  four  counties  in 
Connecticut,  for  example,  received,  in  1672,  six  hundred 
acres  of  land  for  the  support  of  a  grammar  school.  The 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  in  1659,  granted  one 
thousand  acres  of  land  each  to  Charlestown  and  Cam- 
bridge with  the  understanding  that  the  land  was  to  be 
forever  appropriated  to  the  support  of  grammar  schools. 

The  next  step  in  the  development  of  land-grant 
policies  was  taken  when  the  colonies  reserved  a  portion  of 
their  unsettled  lands  for  school  purposes.  Connecticut 
unwittingly  set  the  precedent  for  this  policy  in  1726. 
Thirty-nine  years  before,  in  order  to  embarrass  the  royal 
governor,  Andros,  the  colony  had  granted  a  portion  of 
what  is  now  Litchfield  County  to  the  towns  of  Windsor 


THE    GREAT   STAKE  19 

and  Hartford.  Contrary  to  colonial  expectation,  the 
towns  refused  to  cede  back  the  land  at  the  termination 
of  the  trouble.  A  compromise  was  effected  in  1726 
by  which  each  of  the  two  towns  kept  half  of  its  original 
grant.  The  other  half  was  divided  into  seven  town- 
ships. Five  of  these  townships  were  further  subdivided 
into  fifty- three  parts  each.  "Three  parts  in  each  town 
were  reserved,  one  for  the  support  of  the  town  school 
and  two  for  the  ministry."  This  did  not  settle  the 
matter,  for  in  1733  the  Assembly  ordered  "that  these 
seven  towns  be  sold  and  the  proceeds  divided  among  the 
towns  of  the  colony  already  settled,  in  proportion  to 
their  respective  lists  of  polls  and  ratable  estate,  the  pro- 
ceeds to  be  set  apart  by  each  town  as  a  permanent  fund, 
the  interest  on  which  is  to  be  faithfully  expended  for  the 
support  of  the  schools  required  by  law"  1 

This  action  of  Connecticut  in  1733  is  clearly  respon- 
sible for  the  first  colonial  or  state  permanent  school  fund 
of  which  we  have  record,  and  its  importance  can  scarcely 
be  overestimated.  The  precedent  was  followed  by 
Georgia  in  July,  1783,  in  an  act  which  authorized  the 
Governor  to  set  aside  "one  thousand  acres  of  vacant 
land  for  erecting  free  schools"  in  each  county.  In 
1786,  the  State  of  New  York  provided  for  the  survey 
of  its  vacant  lands  into  "townships  of  sixty-four  thou- 
sand acres"  each.     A  "State  Lot"  and  a  "Gospel  and 

1  Swift's  Public  Permanent  Common  School  Funds  in  the  United  States, 
P-35- 


20  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

School  Lot"  were  reserved  in  each  township.  In  1789, 
provision  was  made  for  the  sale  of  the  "Gospel  and 
School  Lot,"  —  and  thus  began  New  York's  system  of 
township  school  funds.  Massachusetts  took  similar 
action  in  1788. 

Even  before  the  War  for  Independence,  then,  colonial 
experience  had  proved  the  worth  of  land  endowment 
as  a  means  of  insuring  free  schools.  Congress,  under 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  having  won  the  vast  pub- 
lic domain  as  a  national  asset,  followed  the  established 
precedent  and  decreed  that  Lot  No.  16  in  each  town- 
ship of  this  vast  domain  was  to  be  dedicated  to  the 
"maintenance  of  public  schools."  The  Ordinance  of 
1787,  in  the  third  article,  contained  the  famous  declara- 
tion,—  "Religion,  morality  and  knowledge,  being  neces- 
sary to  good  government  and  the  happiness'  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  be  forever 
encouraged."  This  language  is  a  reaffirmation,  in  general 
terms,  of  the  act  of  May,  1785,  but  it  is  not  the  declara- 
tion by  which  Lot  No.  16  is  specifically  set  aside  for 
public  schools.1 

1  It  was  not  only  in  the  Ordinance  of  1 787  that  education  and  religion 
were  coupled  together  as  joint  beneficiaries  of  national  bounty.  In 
1784,  Jefferson  proposed  a  plan  for  disposing  of  the  public  lands,  but 
his  plan  contains  no  reference  to  education.  Eleven  months  later, 
however,  Congress  considered  another  bill  which  granted  the  sixteenth 
section  for  school  purposes  "  and  the  section  immediately  adjoining  the 
same  to  the  northward  to  the  support  of  religion."  The  latter  pro- 
vision was  not  repeated  in  the  act  of  May,  1785,  and  also  failed  to 
appear  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787.     However,  in  the  reservation  of  land 


THE    GREAT    STAKE  21 

How  Lot  No.  1 6  was  made  available  to  the  different 
states  and  what  it  meant  to  them  educationally  are 
topics  so  important  as  to  deserve  a  separate  chapter. 

in  1787  for  the  Ohio  company,  Lot  29  is  to  be  given  "perpetually  for 
the  purposes  of  religion,"  and  the  Symmes  contract  for  the  purchase  of 
land  in  Ohio,  1787,  also  made  reservation  of  lands  for  schools  and 
religion,  and  one  township  for  an  institution  of  higher  education. 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  Endowment  Magnificent 

Potentially,  the  setting  aside  of  the  sixteenth 
sections  constituted  a  truly  magnificent  endowment  for 
public  education,  aggregating,  in  the  territory  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  over  seven  and  a  half  million  acres 
of  land.  If  all  of  this  land  could  have  been  held  by  the 
public  under  a  series  of  ten-year,  twenty-year,  or  even 
fifty-year  leases,  it  would  have  yielded  a  continually 
increasing  revenue,  and  would  have  to-day,  at  the 
lowest  estimate  ($3.00  per  acre),  a  rental  value  of  twenty- 
two  and  a  half  million  dollars  annually.  While  this 
sum  would  be  far  from  sufficient  to  maintain  the  public 
schools  of  the  states  carved  from  the  ceded  territory, 
it  would  be  a  substantial  portion  of  the  total.1  That 
the  contributions  of  the  land-grant  endowments  in  these 
states  fall  far  short  of  what  they  might  have  been  would 
be  a  fact  the  more  lamentable,  had  it  not  constituted  a 
probably  necessary  step  in  the  development  of  a  sound 
public  policy  in  the  granting  of  lands  for  educational 
purposes.     To  know  something  of  the  early  disposition 

1  The  average  rental  value  would  be  much  higher.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  the  rents  from  the  "Lots  No.  16"  in  Cook  County, 
Illinois,  would  more  than  meet  the  annual  cost  of  operating  the  public 
schools  of  the  entire  state  on  the  present  basis  of  expenditures. 


THE   ENDOWMENT   MAGNIFICENT  23 

of  the  school  lands,  therefore,  is  essential  to  an  under- 
standing of  subsequent  happenings. 

Ohio  was  the  first  state  to  receive  Lot  No.  16  and  her 
experience  in  its  disposition  illustrates  practically  all 
of  the  difficulties  that  the  policy  involved  in  its  early 
administration. 

In  1802,  Congress  passed  an  act  enabling  the  people 
of  Ohio  to  form  a  constitution  and  state  government 
under  certain  conditions  that  were  clearly  set  forth  in 
the  act  itself.  Relating  to  land  grants,  this  law  pro- 
vided : 

First,  "That  the  section  numbered  sixteen  in  every 
township,  and  where  such  section  has  been  sold,  granted, 
or  disposed  of,  other  lands  equivalent  thereto  and  most 
contiguous  to  the  same,  shall  be  granted  to  the  inhabitants 
of  such  township  for  the  use  of  schools." 

Second,  That  certain  salt  lands  and  springs  should 
be  granted  to  the  state  for  the  use  of  the  people  under 
regulations  to  be  set  up  by  the  legislature  of  the  state. 

Third,  That  one  twentieth  of  the  net  proceeds  of 
all  lands  within  the  state  sold  by  Congress  after  June 
30,  1802,  should  be  set  aside  for  the  laying  out  and 
making  of  public  roads. 

These  grants,  however,  were  subject  to  the  following 
condition : 

"Provided  always  that  the  three  foregoing  propositions  herein 
offered  are  on  the  condition  that  the  convention  of  the  said  state 
shall  provide  by  an  ordinance,  irrevocable  without  the  consent  of 


24  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

the  United  States,  that  every  and  each  tract  of  land  sold  by 
Congress,  from  and  after  the  30th  day  of  June  next,  shall  be  and 
remain  exempt  from  any  tax  laid  by  order,  or  under  the  authority 
of  the  state,  whether  for  state,  county,  township,  or  any  other 
purpose  whatever,  for  the  term  of  five  years,  from  and  after  the 
day  of  sale."  * 

This  five-year  exemption  from  all  taxes,  which  was 
to  constitute  an  inducement  to  settlers,  was  made  a 
condition  of  granting  the  sixteenth  section  of  each  town- 
ship for  the  use  of  schools. 

There  were  complications,  however,  in  Ohio. 
Virginia's  Military  Reserve  between  the  Little  Miami 
and  the  Scioto  embraced  3,710,000  acres  and  had  no 
reservation  of  lands  for  public  schools.  Connecticut 
in  her  Western  Reserve  had  originally  some  3,300,000 
acres  of  land  within  the  present  limits  of  Ohio.  By 
1792  she  had  disposed  of  about  524,000  acres  of  this 
land  by  sale,  and  in  1793  provided  for  the  sale  of  the 
remainder,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  constitute  "a 
perpetual  fund,  the  interest  whereof  is  granted  and  shall 
be  appropriated  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  several 
ecclesiastical  societies,  churches,  or  congregations  of  all 
denominations  in  this  state,  to  be  by  them  applied  to 
the  support  of  their  respective  ministers  or  preachers 
of  the  gospel  and  schools  of  education,  under  such  rules 
and  regulations  as  shall  be  adopted  by  this  or  some  future 
session  of  the  general  assembly."  2    This  arrangement 

1  Laws  of  the  United  States,  1789-1815,  pp.  496-498. 

2  U.  S.  Com.  of  Edn.  Report,  1892-1893,  pp.  1257-1259. 


THE   ENDOWMENT   MAGNIFICENT  25 

did  not  last,  however,  for  in  1795  the  legislature 
appropriated  the  income  to  the  "School  Societies. " 
The  final  disposition  of  this  fund  in  Connecticut  was 
not  helpful  to  the  people  who  lived  within  the  Western 
Reserve  and  who  desired  an  endowment  for  their 
schools.  The  Ohio  Company,  which  by  act  of  Congress, 
July,  1787,  had  secured  964,285  acres  of  land,  had 
agreed  to  reserve  Lot  No.  16  for  schools.  So,  also,  the 
Symmes  grant,  to  a  New  Jersey  group,  provided  a 
reservation  for  schools  within  its  domain  of  311,682 
acres.  Notwithstanding,  there  were  over  9,500,000 
acres  of  land  within  the  limits  of  Ohio  covered  by  Con- 
gressional grants  in  which  there  were  no  reservations 
for  public  schools,  including  the  Military  Reservation 
of  the  United  States,  which  contained  2,500,000  acres. 

The  Ohio  Constitutional  Convention  made  pro- 
posals (1802)  for  the  reservation  of  school  lands  for 
these  areas,  and  Congress,  in  1803,  accepted  the  pro- 
posals and  set  aside  269,771  acres  for  this  purpose. 
This  is  the  equivalent  of  one  thirty-sixth  of  9,717,756 
acres. 

Congress,  in  the  act  of  March,  1803,  took  another  step 
that  promised  to  produce  more  complications.  In 
1802,  it  had  granted  the  sixteenth  section,  or  its  equiv- 
alent, in  each  township,  "to  the  inhabitants  of  such 
township  for  the  use  of  schools."  The  Congressional 
act  of  1803  "vested  in  trust  in  the  legislature  all  lands 
appropriated  by  the  United  States  for  the  support  of 


::  THZ    NATION    AND    THI    5".  .15 

s.        -        7  :        _:f    ::"    Dido   tried  to  lease  the 

:o  buy  lands. 

Hie  state  then  planned  to  lease  the 

l::.;  this   met  with  only 

5~^1  applied   to    Congress   for 

mthorit  [lands  outright.     Congress 

z-i:  ::  :  made  Ohio  the  trastee 

In  1S27.  the  Ohio 
\:    ie  plans   :::  the   5  these  bo 

follow  ■ 

:    He  sale  oil  e6  was  to  be  voted  on  by  the 

-  ;    v^i 
;    If  :^r  t  red  the  sale    the  lands  were 

tofcr  zelow  ti:  ^enent. 

:     In  payment  in  full  iser,  a  deed  in 

: 
7 :  :  :  :wn  upon  the  market  in 

i:     ~  : he  United  5.   .t 

rames  com Tinies.     They  were 
: inse  -..-:: :      -cli   '-'.   -  very  ..'"  zr.-.t   ::   invest:  r=  md 

—  :ney  th.  rate    :ne    r.i:e    treisury 

h  it  belonged 

ials  of  the 

:    -'zli   money  became  a 

cons:.  roblem.     An  act  of  the  Ohio  legislature 


THE    EKDOWMZ>rT   MAG8JFKX  HI  I  " 

in  1837  prodded  that  the  school  funds  ~_irli:  be  '.. 
to  the  state,  to  counties,  or  to  the  Canal  Fund  if  sh 
per  cent  interest,  nve  sixths  of  which  wis  to  go  to  the 
:  — 7- 5  air  Fir.il>-  :;.:  r.a:e  :::a  '.:.-  ~ a:ie  :.::  aati 
spent  it  for  its  temporary  needs,  substituting  :  :  it  an 
'"irreducible  debt"  bearing  interest  at  six  per  cent. 
This  interest  is  raised  by  general  taratinn;  the  land 
endowment,  therefore,  became  a  burden  to  the  taxpi 
quite  contrary  to  the  plain  intent  of  I  nl  legis- 

lation authorizing  the  grants 

The  grant  of  Lot  Xo.  16  in  Ohio  was  really  a  grant 
to   the   township   instead   of    to    thf    state       Tai?   is 
true  also  in  the  case  of  :  titer  eai 
Indiana.  Alabama.  Lzaisiiai    and  Miss      :.  —  and 
dear  expression  of  the  old  '"neighborhood         ~  eption 
of  educational  responsibility  and  control.     XI 
plications  following  this  plan  were  obviated  by 
the  later  grants  of  L:t  No.   16  directly  to  thf   states 
thus,   in  a    quite    ::::  -  important 

aken  toward  the  reoog  state  as  the 

prime  unit  of  eci.  .  administration.    Ti 

permitted  the  establishment  of  pc 
derived  from  the  pre  Deeds 
These  funds,  in  turn. 
of    distribution.      The   inade 
naturally  :     state    va- 
cation, and  thus  the  pel:  1   local 
schools  gradually  evolved. 


28 


THE    NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


The  Land  Ordinance  of  1785  related  only  to  the  lands 
ceded  by  the  original  states  to  the  United  States.  In 
1826,  Congress  passed  an  act  which  ordered  that  the 
sixteenth  section  of  all  lands  ceded  by  France  (the 
" Louisiana  Purchase")  should  "be  reserved  and  appro- 
priated for  the  use  of  schools." 

The  states  that  received  the  sixteenth  section  as  an 
endowment  for  public  schools  are  shown  below  : 


Date  of  Grant 


1803,  March  3 
1803,  March  3 
1803,  March  3 
1806,  April  21 
1816,  April  19 
1818,  April  18 
1820,  March  6 
1836,  June  23 
1836,  June  23 
1845,  March  3 

1845,  March  3 

1846,  August  6 


State 


Ohio     .     . 

Alabama  . 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Michigan 

Florida 

Iowa     . 

Wisconsin 


Acres  Received 


710,610 x 
901,725 

838,3292 

798,085  3 

601,049 

985,141 

1,162,137 

928,057 

1,003,573 

1,053,653 

978,578 

958,649 


When  the  proposals  for  admitting  Wisconsin  as  a 
state  were  before  Congress  in  the  early  months  of  1848, 
Congressman  John  A.  Rockwell,  of  Connecticut,  moved 
that  the  thirty-sixth  section  in  each  township  also  be 
given  for  schools.  This  motion  did  not  prevail.  But 
in  August,  1848,  Congress  authorized  the  reservation  of 

1  Two  townships  were  for  a  university. 

2  This  includes  also  the  settlements  of  1852  and  1857,  ' 

3  This  includes  a  settlement  in  1843. 


THE   ENDOWMENT   MAGNIFICENT 


29 


sections  sixteen  and  thirty- six  "in  the  states  and  terri- 
tories hereafter  to  be  created  out  of  the  Territory  of 
Oregon."  A  table  is  inserted  below  to  show  the  date 
and  amount  of  the  grants  by  Congress  under  the  Oregon 
Territory  Act,  sections  16  and  36  being  thereby  reserved 
for  schools. 


Date  of  Grant 

State 

Acres  Received 

1850,  September  9   .     .     .     . 

New  Mexico       .     .     . 

4,309,369 

1853,  March  2 

Washington  . 

2,448,675 

1853,  March  3     . 

California 

5,610,702 

1857,  February  26 

Minnesota     . 

2,969,991 

1859,  February  14 

Oregon      .     . 

3,387,520 

1 86 1,  January  29 

Kansas      .     . 

2,876,124 

1 86 1,  February  28 

Montana  .     . 

5,102,107 

1 86 1,  March  2     . 

North  Dakota 

2,531,200 

1 86 1,  March  2 

South  Dakota 

2,813,511 

1863,  March  3 

Idaho  .     .     . 

3,063,271 

1864,  March  21 

Nevada     .     . 

3,985,422! 

1864,  April  19 

Nebraska .     . 

2,637,155 

1864,  May  26 

Arizona     .     . 

4,050,346 

1868,  July  25 

Wyoming 

3,368,924 

1875,  March  3 

Colorado  .     . 

3,715,555 

These  tables  show  the  facts  for  all  of  the  states  except 
those  in  which  unusual  cases  have  arisen.  These  cases 
may  be  briefly  reviewed. 

The  original  thirteen  states  received  no  lands  from 
the  Federal  Government  for  the  support  of  schools 
primarily  because  the  Federal  Government  did  not  own 
any  land  lying  within  these  commonwealths.     Each  of 


1  Instead  of  this  grant,  Nevada  elected  to  select  2,000,000  acres  with- 
out reference  to  the  sections  in  which  the  land  was  located. 


3<D  THE    NATION    AND    THE    SCHOOLS 

the  original  states  was,  of  course,  free  to  set  aside  its  own 
state-owned  lands  for  school  purposes  and  several  of 
them  did  so,  notably  New  York  and  Georgia,  while 
Pennsylvania  early  made  grants  of  state  lands  to  acade- 
mies.1 

Vermont  was  originally  included  in  New  Hampshire, 
Maine  was  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  and  Kentucky  and 
West  Virginia  were  parts  of  Virginia.  Texas  came  into 
the  Union  after  she  had  been  recognized  as  "a  free  and 
independent  Republic"  by  our  country.  However, 
Texas  had  set  aside  before  entering  the  Union  17,712 
acres  in  each  county  for  the  support  of  schools,  and 
owned  all  lands  within  her  borders.  There  was,  con- 
sequently, neither  the  need  nor  the  opportunity  for 
Congress  to  take  action  with  respect  to  the  reservation 
of  school  lands  in  Texas. 

Tennessee  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1796.  Con- 
gress retained  title  to  the  public  lands  in  the  new 
state,  for  North  Carolina  had,  in  1789,  ceded  to  the 
United  States  "the  sovereignty  and  territory"  of 
all  lands  within  the  present  limits  of  Tennessee.  In 
1806,  Congress  granted  to  Tennessee  the  public  lands 
within  the  state  on  which  the  Indian  title  had  lapsed. 
The  state  then  ordered  these  lands  surveyed  and  set 
aside  one  section  in  each  township  to  be  "appropriated 
for  the  use  of  schools  for  the  instruction  of  children  for- 
ever." 

1  See  table  in  Swift's  Permanent  Funds,  p.  85. 


THE    ENDOWMENT   MAGNIFICENT  3 1 

The  grant  of  September  9,  1850,  to  Utah  was  exceed- 
ingly generous  because  the  lands  were  supposed  to  be  of 
small  value.  Four  sections  in  each  township  —  the 
second,  sixteenth,  thirty-second,  and  thirty-sixth  —  were 
set  aside  for  the  use  of  schools.  This  amounted  to 
6,007,182  acres. 

Oklahoma  presents  the  only  other  unusual  case. 
Oklahoma  as  a  territory  had  two  reserved  sections  in 
each  township  and  was  granted  authority  by  Congress 
in  1 89 1  to  lease  these  lands  for  not  more  than  three 
years,  the  rental  to  be  used  for  public  schools  together 
with  $50,000  granted  by  Congress  for  the  same  purpose. 
When  it  was  decided  to  unite  the  Indian  Territory  with 
Oklahoma  Territory  to  form  the  new  state,  Congress 
faced  the  fact  that  the  title  to  the  lands  in  the  former 
was  vested  in  the  Indians.  In  lieu  of  school  lands  in 
the  old  Indian  Territory,  therefore,  it  was  decided  to 
give  Oklahoma  five  million  dollars  which  became  a 
part  of  the  permanent  school  fund  upon  the  admission 
of  the  state. 

Interesting  as  it  would  be  to  trace  the  history  of  the 
management  and  mismanagement  of  the  proceeds  of 
these  federal  land  grants  in  the  several  states,  the  details 
cannot  be  recorded  here.  The  interested  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  the  illuminating  treatise  by  F.  H.  Swift,  Public 
Permanent  Common  School  Funds  in  the  United  States,  — 
a  book  to  which  the  present  writers  are  deeply  indebted. 
The  most  recent  authoritative  utterance  on  the  matter 


32  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

is  from  the  pen  of  the  State  Treasurer  of  Wisconsin, 
Henry  Johnson : * 

"If  the  State  of  Wisconsin  had  not  practically  given  away  its 
valuable  school  lands  years  ago,  we  would  not  have  to  raise  any 
school  taxes  for  generations  to  come.  In  years  gone  by  the  State 
sold  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  fine  timber  land  for  a  mere 
song.  Had  that  timber  been  preserved  by  the  State  it  would  now 
pay  the  entire  amount  due  the  Wisconsin  soldiers  under  the  bonus 
law,  pay  all  the  cost  of  soldier  education  under  the  Nye  bill,  and 
in  addition  the  interest  on  the  balance  would  maintain  the  schools 
of  the  State  for  generations  to  come  without  raising  one  cent  for 
school  purposes  by  taxation." 

But  one  should  not  be  too  regretful.  Even  though  the 
full  benefits  of  the  "endowment  magnificent"  were 
not  realized,  the  results  were  far  beyond  what  the  original 
promoters  of  the  grants  could  possibly  have  dreamed. 
The  states  that  received  these  bountiful  grants  of  land 
were  able  to  start  schools  as  fast  as  the  population 
appeared.  There  was  no  long  waiting  as  in  the  colonial 
days.  The  Nation  as  a  nation  had  set  its  sanction  upon 
free  education.  The  framework  for  schools  was  already 
established  in  the  Land  Act  of  1785,  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  and  the  "Enabling  Act"  admitting  each  new  state. 
The  "  school  lot "  was  in  each  township  a  constant  re- 
minder to  the  people  that  education  and  democracy 
must  go  hand  in  hand.  The  wilderness  had  one 
redeeming    and    crowning    glory,  —  the    public    school 

1  Mr.  Johnson's  statement  appeared  in  the  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin, 
Daily  Northwestern  of  Sept.  30,  1919. 


THE   ENDOWMENT   MAGNIFICENT  33 

on  a  substantial  basis.  "The  ark  of  the  covenant," 
the  compact  drawn  up  in  the  cabin  of  the  May- 
flower, and  the  dedication  of  Lot  No.  16  in  the 
great  national  domain  were  alike  promise  and  fact,  — 
were  dream  and  reality  at  one  and  the  same  time.  While 
the  free  public  school  did  not  have  its  origin  in  the  Land 
Ordinance  of  1785,  it  may  be  truthfully  said  that  this 
great  measure  has  contributed  more  to  the  cause  of 
universal  education  in  our  country  than  has  any  other 
legislative  act.  Its  influence  was  not  limited  to  the 
West;  the  backwash  from  the  tide  of  western  emigra- 
tion did  much  to  confirm  and  strengthen  the  founda- 
tions that  had  already  been  laid  in  the  seaboard  states. 

Lot  No.  16  was  an  inducement  to  settlement,  but  it 
was  also  incentive  to  the  realization  of  the  school  as  a 
community  enterprise.  The  cooperation  which  the 
school  begot  became  the  very  essence  of  community 
life.  There  was  discussion,  of  course,  and  difference  of 
opinion ;  but  these  were  never  allowed  to  go  so  far  as  to 
break  up  the  cooperation  which  was  necessary  to  carry 
forward  the  deepest  common  interest  of  all.  It  is  not 
at  all  extravagant  to  say  that  the  free  public  school  was, 
in  pioneer  days,  the  visible  and  tangible  embodiment 
of  the  freedom,  equality,  fraternity,  justice,  and  right 
that  democracy  means.  With  all  of  its  defects  and 
shortcomings,  it  has  ever  been,  and  still  is,  this  visible 
embodiment  of  the  social  ideal  of  democracy. 

There   has   been   no   parallel   in   all   history  to  the 


34  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

development  that  took  place  in  this  wonderful  land 
of  unexampled  richness.  It  would  be  extravagant 
to  claim  that  any  one  social  institution  was  the  basal 
cause  of  this  marvelous  development.  It  may  be 
truthfully  said,  however,  that  the  free  public  school  has 
always  served  the  community  in  proportion  to  the  vision 
of  the  community  in  providing  for  its  support. 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  has  been  to  show  that 
Congress  from  1785  has  been  granting  public  lands  to 
the  states  in  aid  of  education.  Although  the  Con- 
stitution is  silent  on  the  subject  of  education,  those 
who  framed  the  Constitution  in  1787  were  not  ignorant 
of  what  Congress  had  done  in  1785  nor  were  they  un- 
mindful of  the  cession  of  lands  by  the  states  to  the  Federal 
Government,  for  four  states  —  New  York,  Virginia, 
Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut  —  had  ceded  their 
claims  before  the  Constitutional  Convention  met,  and 
South  Carolina  completed  hers  while  the  Convention 
was  still  in  session  (August  9,  1787).  One  is  clearly 
justified,  therefore,  in  assuming  that  the  famous  phrase, 
"to  promote  the  general  welfare,"  includes  the  power 
and  the  duty  of  Congress  to  promote  education  in  the 
states  by  encouraging  the  establishment  and  adequate 
maintenance  of  schools. 


CHAPTER  V 

Land  Grants  for  State  Universities 

An  important  name  in  the  early  history  of  American 
education  is  that  of  Manasseh  Cutler.  Representing  a 
group  desirous  of  purchasing  a  large  tract  of  land  in 
Ohio,  he  began  negotiations  with  Congress  at  the  time 
when  the  Ordinance  of  1787  was  under  discussion.  As 
a  clergyman,  his  interest  was  not  only  in  colonization 
but  also  in  education.  It  may  be  that  he  thought  the 
Ordinance  of  1787  inadequate  in  its  educational  pro- 
visions ;  in  any  case,  only  ten  days  after  the  Ordinance 
of  1787  had  been  passed,  the  Continental  Congress  passed 
two  other  closely  related  acts.  Of  these,  the  act  of  July 
23,  1787,  reaffirmed  the  disposal  of  lands  by  the  act  of 
May  20,  1785,  and  consequently  safeguarded  Lot  No. 
16.  The  other  act  authorized  a  sale  of  lands  in  Ohio 
to  the  Ohio  Company  and  also  provided  "  that  land  not 
amounting  to  more  than  two  townships  be  given  perpet- 
ually for  the  purpose  of  an  university,  to  be  laid  off  by 
the  purchasers  as  near  the  center  of  the  tract  as  may 
be."  !     Mr.  A.  D.  Mayo,  a  careful  student  of  American 

1  Quoted  from  U.  S.  Com.  Report,  1901,  Vol.  I,  p.  130.  The  act  it- 
self is  found  in  the  Laws  of  the  United  States. 

35 


36  THE    NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

educational  history,  says:  "By  the  insistence  of  Dr. 
Cutler,  as  the  condition  of  the  Ohio  purchase,  there 
was  inserted  the  additional  provision  of  two  additional 
townships  of  the  state  for  a  university,  and  one  for  the 
support  of  an  educated  ministry."  l 

This  act  of  the  Continental  Congress  of  July  23,  1787, 
made  the  first  Federal  grant  of  land  for  university 
purposes.  It  had  its  precedent,  of  course,  in  colonial 
action.  John  Harvard,  "a  godly  gentleman  and  a  lover 
of  learning,"  gave  one  half  of  his  estate,  about  seventeen 
hundred  pounds,  and  all  of  his  library  toward  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  college.  Others  subscribed,  "all  did 
something,  even  the  indigent."  "And  the  publique 
hand  of  the  State  added  the  rest  "  —  a  sum  of  four  hundred 
pounds.  Harvard  was  a  Congregational  college  estab- 
lished that  "the  light  of  learning  might  not  go  out,  nor 
the  study  of  God's  Word  perish."  Yale,  like  Harvard, 
was  Congregational,  and  Dr.  Cutler  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale.  The  group  associated  with  Dr.  Cutler  was  organ- 
ized to  found  a  colony,  and  they  had  to  go  to  the  central 
authority  for  the  right  to  establish  it.  This  central 
authority  to  which  Dr.  Cutler  appealed  was  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  that  had,  two  years  before,  set  aside 
Lot  No.  16  for  the  support  of  public  schools.  What 
more  natural  than  an  appeal  to  Congress  for  college 
lands?  In  a  letter  written  to  his  son  in  1818,  Dr. 
Cutler  says : 

1  U.  S.  Com.  Report,  1893-4,  Vol.  I,  p.  738. 


LAND   GRANTS   FOR   STATE   UNIVERSITIES  37 

"The  fact  is,  the  people  of  Ohio  are  wholly  indebted  to  me  for 
procuring  the  grant  of  those  townships  [for  the  University]  and 
the  ministers'  lands  in  the  Ohio  Company's  purchase ;  and  indeed 
for  similar  grants  in  Judge  Symmes's  purchase.  When  I  applied 
to  Congress  for  the  purchase,  no  person,  to  my  knowledge,  had  an 
idea  of  asking  for  such  grants.  When  I  mentioned  it  to  Mr.  Sar- 
gent and  others  friendly  to  the  measure,  they  were  rather  op- 
posed, fearing  it  would  occasion  an  increased  price  for  the  lands. 
I  had  previously  contemplated  the  vast  benefit  that  must  be 
derived  from  it  in  future  time,  and  I  made  every  exertion  to  obtain 
it.  Mr.  Sargent,  indeed,  cordially  united  with  me  in  endeavoring 
to  surmount  the  difficulties  which  appeared  in  the  way,  till  the 
object  was  attained.  ...  It  is  well  known  to  all  concerned  with 
me  in  transacting  the  business  of  the  Ohio  Company  that  the 
establishment  of  a  University  was  a  first  object,  and  lay  with 
great  weight  on  my  mind." 

The  statements  in  this  letter  are  borne  out  by  certain 
other  facts.  The  act  of  May  20,  1785,  set  apart  Lot 
No.  16,  but  — 

"Dr.  Cutler  was  not  satisfied  with  this  provision,  and  demanded 
that  Congress  should  donate  in  addition  one  section  in  every 
township  for  the  support  of  an  educated  ministry,  and  two  entire 
townships  for  the  establishment  and  support  of  a  university. 
This  new  claim  was  resisted  by  members  of  Congress.  One  bill 
passed  authorizing  the  Ohio  Company's  purchase,  but  without 
these  additional  reservations;  and  Dr.  Cutler  would  not  accept 
it.  He  packed  his  trunk,  made  his  parting  calls,  said  he  should 
leave  the  town  immediately,  and  make  his  purchase  of  some  of 
the  States.  (Massachusetts  owned  Maine  and  New  Hampshire 
claimed  Vermont.)  This  was  somewhat  of  a  ruse  on  his  part, 
and  it  turned  out  as  he  expected.  Members  flocked  to  his  room 
and  entreated  him  to  remain,  and  they  would  try  to  get  more 
favorable  terms.     He  wrote  out  these  conditions  as  a  sine  qua  non 


38  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

on  which  he  would  make  the  contract,  and  brought  Congress  to 
vote  precisely  the  terms  he  dictated."  1 

It  should  be  stated  that  Dr.  Cutler  proposed  to  buy 
one  and  a  half  million  acres  for  the  Ohio  Company  and 
about  four  million  acres  for  other  groups.2  As  he  was 
the  first  bidder  for  any  part  of  the  recently  acquired 
public  domain,  and  as  the  money  would  go  into  the 
common  treasury,  the  members  of  Congress  were 
greatly  interested  in  his  views,  not  only  regarding  the 
conditions  of  the  purchase  itself  but  also  regarding  the 
larger  policies  embodied  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 

The  result  of  this  grant  was  the  Ohio  University,  at 
Athens,  Ohio.  The  articles  of  incorporation  of  this 
institution,  its  first  course  of  study,  and  its  first  faculty 
are  further  evidences  of  Dr.  Cutler's  devotion  to  his  idea, 
—  an  idea  that  has  been  of  untold  benefit  in  all  of  the 
states  formed  from  the  national  domain,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  which  will  continue  as  long  as  "the  Ohio 
shall  flow."  This  grant  to  the  Ohio  Company,  fol- 
lowing as  it  did  upon  the  passage  of  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  was,  in  part,  an  explicit  interpretation  of  the 
intent  of  Congress  that  was  embodied  in  the  famous 
declaration:  "Religion,  morality  and  knowledge,  being 
essential   to   good   government    and   the   happiness   of 

1  "Dr.  Cutler  and  the  Ordinance  of  1787,"  by  W.  F.  Poole,  in  North 
American  Review,  1876,  pp.  262-3.  The  entire  article  is  illuminating. 
See  also  the  Life  of  M.  Cutler  by  W.  P.  and  J.  P.  Cutler  for  details. 

2  The  contract  was  signed  on  October  27,  1787. 


LAND   GRANTS  FOR   STATE   UNIVERSITIES  39 

mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  for- 
ever be  encouraged." 

Before  reviewing  the  grants  for  the  founding  of  uni- 
versities in  other  states,  it  will  be  well  to  see  what  was 
done  with  respect  to  education  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention  which  was  at  this  time  in  session  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  which  Dr.  Cutler  desired  to  "look  in  upon" 
while  there  between  July  n  and  July  17,  1787. 

On  Monday,  August  18,  1787,  just  twenty-six  days 
after  Congress  had  authorized  the  contract  with  the 
Ohio  Company,  Madison  made  several  proposals  that 
were  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Detail.  Among 
these  were  the  following : 

"To  establish  seminaries  for  the  promotion  of  the  arts  and 
sciences." 

"To  establish  public  institutions,  rewards,  and  immunities  foi 
the  promotion  of  agriculture,  commerce,  trade,  and  manufacture." 

The  Committee  on  Detail  never  directly  reported  on 
these  matters,  and  they  were  not  included  in  the  final 
draft  of  the  Constitution.  When  the  final  draft  was 
being  considered,  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Pinckney,  and  Mr. 
Wilson  moved  to  insert  among  the  powers  of  Congress  a 
power  "to  establish  an  University  in  which  no  prefer- 
ence or  distinctions  should  be  allowed  on  account  of 
religion."  To  understand  the  argument  very  briefly 
urged  in  opposition  by  Gouverneur  Morris,  it  is  necessary 
to  know  that  it  had  already  been  agreed  that  Congress 
was  to  acquire  and  have  full  and  exclusive  control  over 


40  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

a  tract  ten  miles  square  which  was  to  be  the  seat  of 
government.  Madison  in  his  "Journal"  quotes  Gouv- 
erneur  Morris  as  saying:  "It  [the  granting  of  power 
to  Congress  to  establish  a  university]  is  not  necessary. 
The  exclusive  power  at  the  seat  of  government  will  reach 
the  object." 

What  we  actually  have  in  the  Constitution  is  the 
declaration  of  purpose  "to  promote  the  general  wel- 
fare," the  general  implied  powers  (Article  I,  Section  8, 
Clause  18),  and  the  provision  that  "The  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and 
regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States"  (Article  IV,  Section 
3,  Clause  2).  "Other  property"  certainly  includes 
money,  and  Congress,  as  we  shall  see  later,  has  appro- 
priated money  for  educational  purposes  by  the  authority 
of  the  clause  just  quoted,  maintaining  that  the  educa- 
tional purposes  embodied  in  the  legislation  were  "to 
promote  the  general  welfare." 

The  Tenth  Amendment,  the  last  of  the  first  group  of 
additional  safeguards  that  our  forefathers  desired  to 
have  explicitly  set  forth  rather  than  risk  them  to  the 
vicissitudes  of  being  merely  "understood,"  is  very 
definite.     It  provides  that  — 

"The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Con- 
stitution, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively  or  to  the  people."  x 

1  In  force  since  November  3,  1791. 


LAND   GRANTS   FOR   STATE   UNIVERSITIES  41 

The  organization,  supervision,  and  administration  of 
education  are  functions  of  sovereignty.  This  right  is, 
by  the  Tenth  Amendment,  reserved  to  the  states  because 
the  Constitution  neither  delegates  it  to  the  United 
States  nor  prohibits  it  to  the  states.  But  even  while 
the  Constitution  was  in  process  of  adoption,  even  while 
the  Tenth  Amendment  was  being  adopted,  before  that 
time,  and  since  that  time,  the  United  States  has  been 
promoting  education.  To  maintain,  as  some  do,  that 
Congress  can  grant  land  but  not  money  in  aid  of  educa- 
tion is  to  ignore  the  Constitution  and  the  history  that 
has  been  wrought  out  under  it. 

To  return  to  the  theme  of  this  chapter,  —  the  granting 
of  lands  for  the  establishment  of  universities :  Mention 
has  already  been  made  of  the  Symmes  Purchase  which, 
in  accordance  with  a  Congressional  act  of  authorization, 
was  completed  by  signatures  on  September  30,  1794- 
This  tract  was  in  southwestern  Ohio,  including  what  is 
now  Cincinnati  and  extending  northward ;  it  embraced 
311,682  acres.  The  contract  provided  for  the  reserva- 
tion of  Lot  No.  16  and  also  of  one  complete  township, 
to  be  held  in  trust  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  "an 
academy  and  other  seminaries  of  learning."  It  was 
upon  this  foundation  that  Miami  University,  at  Oxford, 
Ohio,  was  established,  and  the  title  to  the  township 
still  is  held  in  trust  for  this  institution.  The  lands  of 
this  school  and  of  the  Ohio  University  at  Athens * 
1  See  p.  38. 


42  THE    NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

were  leased  for  ninety  years  with  a  clause  that  provided 
revaluation  every  thirty  years.  Action  of  the  Legis- 
lature and  the  decisions  of  the  State  Supreme  Court, 
however,  have  substantially  made  the  leases  perpetual 
on  a  very  low  valuation  of  the  land.  These  leaseholds 
pass  from  one  person  to  another  by  conveyance  just  as 
titles  to  land  are  transferred  in  other  townships  of  the 
state.  Meanwhile,  the  universities  at  Oxford  and  Athens 
derive  only  a  very  small  annual  income  from  what 
should  be  to-day  a  most  generous  endowment. 

The  policy  established  by  the  two  grants  to  colonizing 
companies  became,  by  precedent,  the  policy  of  the 
Federal  government.  Upon  the  admission  of  a  state,  it 
was  granted  land  for  a  university.  The  grant  was 
usually  two  townships,  but  in  some  cases  it  was  more. 
Occasionally,  the  grant  was  conditionally  made  to  a 
territory  before  statehood  had  been  attained.  In  1889, 
the  policy  was  changed,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  later 
chapter,1  so  that  large  blocks  of  land  were  given  for 
specific  educational  ends  in  lieu  of  the  separate  grants 
that  were  formerly  made. 

The  following  table  shows  the  acreage  of  the  Federal 
grants  for  universities,  excluding,  of  course,  the  very 
large  grants  that  were  made  following  the  first  Morrill 
Act  of  1862.  A  few  notes,  explanatory  of  exceptional 
cases,2  follow  the  table. 

1  See  pp.  51-52. 

2  A  most  excellent  tabular  arrangement  is  found  in  U.  S.  Com.  of  Edn. 
Report,  1896-1897,  pp.  1151-1161. 


LAND   GRANTS   FOR   STATE   UNIVERSITIES 


43 


State 

Area  or  Grant  in 
Acres 

State 

Area  of  Grant  tn 
Acres 

Alabama  .     . 

92,160 

Montana  .     . 

146,560  or  196,080 

Arizona    .     . 

396,080 

Nebraska  .     . 

46,080 

Arkansas .     . 

46,080 

Nevada     .     . 

46,080 

California 

52,480 

New  Mexico  . 

397,703 

Colorado  .     . 

46,080 

North  Dakota 

126,080 

Florida     .     . 

92,160 

Ohio      .     .     . 

69,120 

Idaho  .     .     . 

95, 080  or  196,080 

Oklahoma 

635,514 

Illinois      .    . 

46,080 

Oregon      .     . 

46,080 

Indiana    .     . 

69,286  or  72,662 

South  Dakota 

126,080 

Iowa    .     .     . 

40,080  or  50,080 

Tennessee 

100,000 

Kansas 1  .     . 

46,080 

Texas 3  *    .     . 

2,378,550 

Louisiana 

46,080 

Utah     .     .     . 

256,080 

Michigan 2    . 

48,080 

Washington  5 

46,080  or  146,080 

Minnesota     . 

92,160 

Wisconsin 

92,160 

Mississippi    . 

69,120 

Wyoming  .     . 

46,080 

Missouri  .     . 

46,080 

Almost  every  session  of  Congress  sees  some  change 
made  in  the  grants,  and  always  it  is  an  addition.  For 
example,  the  Fifty-ninth  Congress  granted  thirty-two 
acres  of  the  Fort  Douglas  Military  Reservation  to  the 
University  of  Utah.  It  also  appropriated  to  California 
five  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  cash  sales  of 
public  lands  "which  have  been  heretofore  made  since 
the  admission  of  said  state,  or  may  hereafter  be  made 

1  The  acreage  for  Kansas  includes  one  tenth  of  the  saline  lands  that 
were  granted  to  the  state. 

2  Michigan  also  received  three  townships  in  1817  by  the  treaty  of 
Fort  Meigs.    These  were  sold  for  $5000. 

3  Texas  came  into  the  Union  as  an  independent  Republic,  and  she 
has  set  aside  2,378,550  acres  for  her  state  university,  much  of  it  being 
land  suitable  for  grazing  only. 

4  Granted  by  Republic  of  Texas,  378,550 ;  by  State  of  Texas,  2,000,000. 
6  100,000  acres  on  admission. 


44  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

in  said  state,  to  aid  the  support  of  the  public  or  common 
schools."  The  facts  are  constantly  changing,  —  but 
the  appropriations  never  grow  less. 

The  grants  for  these  institutions  have  not  always 
been  used  wisely  by  the  states.  Lands  that  have  been 
sold  at  $3.00  an  acre  when  belonging  to  the  university 
grants  have,  in  the  following  year,  brought  $25.00  an  acre. 
There  is,  indeed,  much  in  the  management  of  these  uni- 
versity grants  that  gives  cause  for  regret ;  but  there  are 
also  many  substantial  achievements  that  would  not 
have  been  brought  about,  had  it  not  been  for  the  educa- 
tional incentive  to  the  states  which  the  grants  of  land 
created.  Mr.  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  said  in  Congress 
in  1803,  on  the  question  of  voting  land  to  the  Ohio 

School  Fund : 
» 
"I  believe  that  the  appropriation,  while  it  protects  the  interests 

of  literature,  will  enhance  the  value  of  property.     Can  we  suppose 

that  emigration  will  not  be  promoted  by  it,  and  that  the  value  of 

lands  will  not  be  enhanced  by  the  emigrant  obtaining  the  fullest 

education  for  his  children?    and  is  it  not  better  to  receive  two 

dollars  an  acre  with  an  appropriation  for  schools  than  seventy-five 

cents  an  acre  without  such  appropriation?     Indubitably  it  is. 

Gentlemen  who  are  not  operated  upon  by  this  principle,  and  a 

desire  to  establish  a  liberal  provision  for  schools,  will  vote  against 

the  bill."  » 

The  argument  of  Mr.  Randolph  is  valid  in  the  economic 
sense ;  but  the  social  increment  that  comes  from  uni- 
versities is  of  inestimably  greater  value. 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  7th  Congress,  2d  Session,  p.  586. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Other  Federal  Land  Grants  in  Aid  of  Education 
a.   salt  lands 

Chapter  IV  dealt  entirely  with  Lot  No.  16  and  its 
associate,  Lot  No.  36.  Closely  connected  with  and 
related  to  grants  of  this  kind  are  the  so-called  saline,  or 
salt  land,  grants.  These  saline  lands  were  first  granted 
to  Ohio,  a  total  of  24,216  acres,  but  Congress  did  not 
specify  to  what  use  the  proceeds  from  lease  or  sale  should 
be  devoted.  Ohio,  however,  used  the  proceeds  for 
public  schools  and  has  made  the  fund  thus  accumulated 
a  part  of  her  irreducible  debt.  Indiana  also  received 
23,040  acres  of  saline  lands.  In  1832,  Indiana  requested 
the  permission  of  Congress  to  sell  them.  Congress 
replied,  fixing  a  minimum  price  and  decreeing  that  the 
proceeds  should  be  devoted  to  education.  This  showed 
the  intention  of  Congress.  The  fourteen  states  that  re- 
ceived salt  lands  are  listed  on  the  following  page. 

Ohio,  Indiana,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas  used  the  pro- 
ceeds for  schools.  Wisconsin  gave  the  two  townships 
to  the  University.  Michigan  gave  16,000  acres  for 
normal-school  purposes  and  30,080  acres  toward  an 
agricultural    college.     Kansas    gave    30,380    acres    for 

4S 


46 


THE    NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


normal  schools,  and  4,608  acres  to  the  University. 
Nebraska  gave  30,380  acres  for  normal  schools.  Iowa 
divided  her  salt  lands  between  public  schools  and  the 
agricultural  college. 


State 

Acres 

Date 

Minnesota 

Ohio 

Oregon 

23,040 
46,080 
46,080 
121,029 
23,040 
46,080 
46,080 
46,080 
46,080 
46,080 
46,080 
22,216 
46,080 
46,080 

1819 
1836 
1876 
1818 
1816 
1846 
1861 

1837 
1858 
1821 
1867 
1802 
i859 
1848 

As  evidence  of  the  slight  value  of  most  of  the  salt 
lands,  it  may  be  stated  that  four  states  failed  to  qualify 
according  to  the  law  which  demanded  that  the  lands  be 
selected  within  a  year.  These  states  are  Louisiana 
(1812),  Mississippi  (1817),  California  (1850),  and 
Nevada  (1864). 

B.     INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENT   GRANTS 

Congress  in  1841  granted  to  each  of  eight  states  — 
Alabama,  Arkansas,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Louisiana,  Michi- 
gan, Mississippi,  and  Missouri  —  500,000  acres  of  un- 
appropriated   government    land    located    within    each 


OTHER  FEDERAL  LAND  GRANTS  47 

state,  for  "purposes  of  internal  improvements."  Con- 
gress extended  the  same  grant  to  states  that  might  be 
admitted  later,  and  also  provided  that  any  grants 
previously  made  to  a  state  for  "purposes  of  internal 
improvement"  should  be  deducted  from  this  amount. 
States  admitted  in  1889,  and  since  that  time,  have 
received  specific  grants  for  specific  purposes.  The 
nineteen  states  receiving  500,000-acre  grants  for  internal 
improvements  by  the  act  of  1841  and  the  act  of  admission 
into  the  Union  are : 

Alabama 1819  Michigan 1837 

Arkansas 1836  Minnesota 1858 

California 1850  Mississippi 181 7 

Colorado 1876  Missouri 182 1 

Florida 1845  Nebraska 1867 

Illinois 1818  Nevada 1864 

Indiana 1816  Ohio 1802 

Iowa 1846  Oregon 1859 

Kansas 1861  Wisconsin 1848 

Louisiana 181 2 

Some  of  the  states  used  this  money  for  roads,  bridges, 
and  railways.  Others  devoted  all  or  a  considerable 
portion  of  it  to  educational  uses.  The  following  state- 
ments show  the  facts : 

California,  1850,  gave  all  to  a  perpetual  common  school  fund. 

Iowa,  1846,  gave  all  to  a  perpetual  common  school  fund. 

Kansas,  1861,  set  aside  all  for  common  school  support  by  her 
constitution,  but  this  seems  never  to  have  been  confirmed  by 
subsequent  legislative  enactment. 

Nebraska  gave  all  to  the  school  fund. 

Nevada,  1864,  all  to  a  fund  for  educational  purposes. 

Oregon,  1859,  all  to  the  common  school  fund. 


48  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

Wisconsin,  1848,  all  to  the  school  fund. 

Mississippi,  in  1868,  gave  the  remaining  balance,  21,000  acres, 
for  schools. 

Alabama,  in  1848,  gave  her  lands  for  schools. 
Florida  devoted  her  lands  to  school  purposes. 

From  the  educational  standpoint,  the  objection  to  such 
grants  as  the  above  is  that  they  are  permissive  instead 
of  mandatory  so  far  as  school  support  is  concerned. 
When  we  consider  the  views  of  the  time,  however,  we 
are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  these  land  grants  for 
internal  improvements,  as  well  as  special  grants  for 
building  roads,  were  considered  as  an  offset  to  the  na- 
tional expenditures  for  lighthouses  and  harbor-improve- 
ments by  which  the  seaboard  states  profited  greatly.  It 
is  indeed  noteworthy  that  any  state  before  i860  should 
have  devoted  all  or  even  a  part  of  this  land  to  educa- 
tional uses,  for  there  was  the  greatest  need  for  internal 
improvements.  The  wonder  is  increased  on  reading 
the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1841  for,  after  fixing  the 
price  of  the  lands  at  $1.25  per  acre,  it  specifically  says: 
".  .  .  and  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  said  lands  shall 
be  faithfully  applied  to  the  objects  of  internal  improve- 
ments within  the  states  aforesaid,  respectively,  namely ; 
roads,  railways,  bridges,  canals  and  improvements  of 
water  courses,  and  draining  of  swamps." 

C.     SWAMP   LANDS 

The  public  lands  were  plentiful  in  the  early  days.  In 
181 2,  Congress  offered  a  bounty  of  land  to  those  in  the 


OTHER  FEDERAL  LAND  GRANTS  49 

Northwest  Territory  who  would  enlist  in  the  war 
against  Great  Britain.  These  bounty  lands  were  located 
in  Michigan.  After  the  war  was  over,  the  soldiers  who 
went  into  Michigan  were  not  satisfied  with  the  lands, 
maintaining  that  they  were  swampy.  Congress  there- 
upon reserved  other  lands  in  Indiana  and  in  Illinois.  It 
became  evident  that  Congress  would  have  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  disposing  of  these  swamp  lands.  Accordingly, 
in  1849,  on  application,  Louisiana  was  granted  all  the 
swamp  and  overflowed  land  within  the  state,  on  the 
understanding  that  the  proceeds  should  be  used  to  drain 
the  land  and  construct  levees  along  the  rivers.  In  1850, 
the  swamp-land  law  was  extended  to  Arkansas  and  "to 
each  of  the  other  states  of  the  Union  in  which  swamp 
and  overflowed  lands  may  be  situated."  In  1855,  Con- 
gress gave  to  the  states  in  which  swamp  lands  had  been 
sold  by  the  Government  certain  other  lands  as  "indem- 
nity lands."  Two  years  later,  the  swamp  and  over- 
flowed lands  that  had  been  reported  by  the  states  were 
specifically  appropriated  to  them.  In  i860,  Minnesota 
and  Oregon  were  given  "swamp-land"  rights  and  priv- 
ileges, and  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Nevada  were  specifi- 
cally excluded.  California,  in  1866,  was  the  last  state 
to  receive  "swamp  lands." 

These  "swamp  and  overflowed  lands"  were  an  in- 
definite quantity.  The  states  claimed  much  and  kept 
on  filing  their  claims  from  time  to  time.  Consequently, 
there  is  a   difference  between  what  was  claimed  and 


5° 


THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


what  was  awarded  to  the  states  by  the  General  Land 
Office.  The  following  table  shows  the  acreage  claimed 
by  the  fifteen  states  which  were  affected  by  the  swamp- 
land grants : 


State 

Claimed  (1896) 

State 

Claimed  (1896) 

Alabama 
Arkansas 
California 
Florida    . 
Illinois     . 
Indiana   . 
Iowa  .     . 
Louisiana 

53i,355-6o 
8,656,372.39 
1,887,685.23 

22,244,541.07 
3,981,784.10 
i,377,727-70 
4,570,132.33 

li,76o,455-83 

Michigan 
Minnesota 
Mississippi 
Missouri  . 
Ohio    .     . 
Oregon     . 
Wisconsin 

7,243,i59-28 
4,738,549-78 
3,603,921.68 
4,843,636.09 
117,931.28 
434,428.45 
4,569,712.12 

Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Missouri  gave  the  "net  proceeds" 
of  the  sale  of  swamp  lands  to  their  school  funds. 
Mississippi  hesitated,  but  finally  so  disposed  of  its  allot- 
ment in  1868.  The  Constitution  of  Alabama  in  1868 
put  the  swamp-land  proceeds  into  the  school  fund,  but 
no  trace  of  the  fund  can  now  be  found.  Illinois  provided 
for  drainage,  and  the  surplus  was  to  go  into  the  school 
fund.  Wisconsin  gave  half  of  the  fund  to  normal 
schools.  Minnesota  gave  one  half  to  schools  and  one 
half  to  charitable  institutions.  Oregon  gave  a  part  of  the 
proceeds  to  schools.  California  gave  all  to  the  University 
of  California,  —  creating  a  fund  probably  in  excess  of 
$1,000,000.  Michigan  gave  $972,606  of  the  proceeds 
to  the  school  fund  and  6961  acres  to  the  agricultural 
college. 


OTHER   FEDERAL   LAND   GRANTS  5 1 

D.    SPECIFIC   GRANTS 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  specific  grants  that 
began  in  1889,  and  which  were  to  replace  the  grants  of 
different  names  that  had  grown  into  use  since  1785. 
These  are  in  lieu  of  all  grants  except  the  section  grants 
for  the  common  schools  and  include  almost  as  wide  a 
range  of  titles  as  the  representatives  of  the  territories 
seeking  admission  could  formulate.  On  the  next  page 
will  be  found  a  table  of  these  specific  grants,  quoted 
from  Cubberley  and  Elliott's  State  and  County  School 
Administration,  Volume  II,  p.  62. 


52 


THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


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.E  IS 


CHAPTER  VII 

Money  Grants  in  Support  of  Education 
a.   the  "five  per  cent"  funds 

The  grants  by  the  Federal  Government  in  aid  of 
education  have  not  been  limited  to  lands,  but  the  huge 
aggregate  of  the  land  grants  and  their  distribution 
throughout  the  country  have  combined  to  make  the 
public  familiar  with  this  type  of  endowment,  while  the 
facts  regarding  the  money  grants  are  far  less  widely 
known. 

The  first  grant  of  money  was  to  the  State  of  Ohio 
in  the  act  of  April  30,  1802,  but  it  was  not  for  educational 
purposes.  Five  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  public  lands  in  Ohio,  after  June  30,  1803,  was  to 
be  given  to  the  state  for  "laying  out  and  making  public 
roads."  The  act  admitting  Illinois,  passed  in  1818, 
donated  to  the  state  five  per  cent  of  the  net  sales  of  the 
public  lands  within  its  borders,  with  the  proviso  that 
two  fifths  should  be  spent  under  the  direction  of  Con- 
gress, in  making  roads  leading  to  the  state ;  "  the  residue 
to  be  appropriated,  by  the  legislature  of  the  state,  for 
the  encouragement  of  learning,  of  which  one-sixth  part 
shall  be  exclusively  bestowed  on  a  college  or  university." 
In  order  to  make  use  of  this  fund,  the  first    normal 

53 


54 


THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


school  established  in  that  state,  in  1857,  was  called  the 
Illinois  State  Normal  University. 

Table.  —  The  "Five  Per  Cent  Funds"1 


State 


Alabama 
Arizona  . 
Arkansas 
California 
Colorado 
Florida  . 
Idaho  . 
Illinois  . 
Indiana  . 
Iowa .  . 
Kansas  . 
Louisiana 
Michigan 
Minnesota 
Mississippi 
Missouri 
Montana 
Nebraska 
Nevada  . 
New  Mexico 
North  Dakota 
Ohio  .  .  . 
Oklahoma  . 
Oregon  .  . 
South  Dakota 
Utah .  .  . 
Washington 
Wisconsin  . 
Wyoming  . 
Total  . 


Aggregate 
June  30,  1913 


i,077,904-72 

1,652.99 

324,911.00 

1,080,053.26 
460,478.30 
I37,336-o6 
241,833.36 

1,187,908.89 

1,040,255.26 

633,638- IO 

1,125,469.41 

468,187.89 

587,068.52 

588,283.08 

1,069,926.62 

1,060,430.61 

404,245.88 

559,394.45 

32,124.58 

121,040.78 

529,027.11 

999,117.89 

S9,ii7-89 
707,016.11 
308,068.20 

81,694.78 

396,930.35 

586,408.58 

213,387.64 

516,093,417-43 


Educational  Use  as  Shown 


Schools 

State  school  fund 


Schools 

3%  of  proceeds  to  education 

Permanent  school  fund 

For  support  of  common  schools 

10%  to  free-school  fund 

Schools 


Schools 

Permanent  school  fund 

Educational  purposes 

Schools 

Permanent  school  fund 

Common  schools 
Common  schools 
Permanent  school  fund 

Common-school  fund 

School  fund 

Perpetual  common-school  fund 


1  This  table  has  been  prepared  from  facts  given  by  Cubberley  and 
Elliott,  State  and  County  School  Administration,  p.  48  (quoted  from 
Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office),  and  from  data 
in  Part  II  of  Swift's  Public  Permanent  Common  School  Funds. 


MONEY   GRANTS   IN   SUPPORT   OF   EDUCATION  55 

The  clause  setting  aside  a  portion  of  the  five  per  cent 
fund  to  the  use  of  education  did  not  again  occur  until 
about  1845  when  the  states  themselves  began  to  request 
it.  Twenty-nine  states  have  received  such  funds  from 
the  Federal  Government  and  practically  every  state 
admitted  since  i860  must  apply  them  to  educational 
uses.  The  Enabling  Act  of  Oklahoma  (1906)  makes  this 
five  per  cent  fund  into  a  permanent  fund,  "the  interest 
only  of  which  shall  be  expended  for  the  support  of  the 
common  schools  within  said  State." 

The  table  on  the  preceding  page  shows  the  aggregate  of 
such  funds  on  June  30,  1913,  and  the  educational  uses  to 
which  they  must  be  put  where  such  usage  has  been 
either  required  by  Congress  or  voluntarily  decreed  by 
the  legislature  of  the  state. 

Many  of  the  funds  shown  above  are  increasing  as 
public  lands  are  sold,  —  at  a  present  rate  of  about 
$200,000  annually.  No  public  lands  remain  in  the  older 
states,  such  as  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa,  and 
therefore  the  funds  have  reached  their  maximum,  but  the 
Government  still  retains  title  to  a  substantial  acreage 
in  the  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  Coast  sections. 

B.     THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   THE   SURPLUS   REVENUE 

The  largest  single  distribution  of  money  by  the  Federal 
Government,  however,  was  made  by  the  act  of  June, 
1836,  which  apportioned  to  the  states  a  surplus  of  twenty- 
eight  million  dollars  that  had  accumulated  in  the  Federal 


56  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

treasury.  The  distribution,  which  was,  legally,  a  de- 
posit subject  to  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury but  which  has  never  been  called  for,  was  made  on 
January  1,  1837;  on  that  day  all  the  money  in  the 
treasury  except  $5,000,000  was  put  on  deposit  with  the 
states,  the  allotment  made  to  the  several  states  being 
"in  proportion  to  their  respective  representation  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States."  This  was  most  favorable  to  the  original  states 
which  had  the  largest  population  at  that  time  and 
consequently  the  largest  representation  in  Congress. 
For  fifteen  years  or  more  some  plan  of  giving  money  to 
the  states  that  did  not  share  in  the  educational  land 
grants  of  Congress  had  been  urged,  and  the  act  of  1836 
was  a  step  in  this  direction,  but  it  was  not  the  end  of  the 
effort,  as  will  be  shown  later.  The  accompanying 
table  :  shows  the  distribution  and  uses  of  the  Surplus 
Revenue  Fund.  It  is  particularly  instructive  in  revealing 
the  variations  in  their  employment  of  Federal  subven- 
tions when  the  purposes  for  which  the  money  should  be 
spent  are  not  specified.  That  so  large  a  proportion  of 
the  total  amount  distributed  should  have  been  used  for 
education  is  significant  when  one  remembers  that  but  few 
states  at  that  time  had  made  substantial  provisions  for 
public  schools. 

1  Made  from  data  in  Swift's  Public  Permanent  Common  School  Funds, 
pp.  74-78,  and  in  Cubberley  and  Elliott's  State  and  County  School  Ad- 
ministration, pp.  52-57. 


MONEY  GRANTS   IN   SUPPORT   OF   EDUCATION  57 

Distribution  of  the  Surplus  Revenue,  1837 


State 


No.  IN 
Congress 


Amount 
Received 


Disposition  or  Present  Use 


Alabama  . 
Arkansas  . 
Connecticut 

Delaware 

Georgia  . 
Illinois 


I  669,088 
286,751 
764,670 

286,751 

1,051,422 
477,919 


Indiana    . 
Kentucky 


15 


860,254 


1,433,754 


Louisiana 


477,919 


Interest  at  4%  used  for 
schools. 

Entire  fund  used  by  state 
and  lost. 

Distributed  (except  $1000) 
to  the  towns  which  still 
pay  interest  for  use  of 
schools. 

Invested  in  bank  and  rail- 
way stock.  Income  di- 
vided among  the  counties. 

Poor-school  fund  1840;  lost 
in  Civil  War. 

Two  thirds  used  to  pay  the 
state's  debt  to  the  school 
fund.  This  was  borrowed 
and  spent  by  the  state  for 
internal  improvements. 
State  now  pays  6%  in- 
terest on  $335,592  to  the 
school  fund. 

In  1 85 1,  portion  of  fund  then 
intact,  $567,126,  put  into 
school  fund. 

In  1837,  $850,000  put  into 
school  fund,  but  interest 
was  used  to  pay  state  ex- 
penses. In  185 1,  school 
portion  and  interest  due 
were  capitalized  at 
$1,326,770.  State  pays 
interest  on  this  to  school 
fund. 

Used  for  state  debts.  Con- 
stitution of  1852  set  aside 
interest  for  school  fund. 
Constitution  of  1864  re- 
pealed this  provision. 
Since  1876,  interest  is  paid 
by  state  to  school  fund. 


58  THE   NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

Distribution  of  the  Surplus  Revenue,  1837  —  Continued. 


State 


No.  m 
Congress 


Amount 
Received 


Disposition  or  Present  Use 


Maine 


Maryland 


$    955,838 


955,838 


Massachusetts  . 

Michigan  .     .     . 

Mississippi    .     . 
Missouri  .     .     . 

New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey  .     . 


M 


i,338,i73 

286,751 

332,355 
332,355 

669,086 
746,670 


Distributed  to  towns  and 
cities.  A  few  used  it  for 
school  purposes.  Most  of 
them  distributed  it  per 
capita  to  their  populations. 

$681,378  set  aside  for  school 
fund.  Money  spent  for 
internal  improvements. 
$1000  of  interest  goes 
annually  to  education  of 
blind  and  $34,069  is  dis- 
tributed to  schools. 

Deposited  with  towns.  A 
few  used  it  for  education, 
but  most  of  them  for  other 
town  expenses. 

Used  for  current  expenses 
and  an  internal  improve- 
ment fund. 

Spent  for  state  expenses  by 
1842. 

Invested  until  it  amounted 
to  $500,000.  Invested 
now  in  state  bonds.  In- 
terest goes  to  common 
schools. 

Distributed  among  towns  to 
be  spent  for  any  legal  pur- 
pose. About  fifty  towns 
used  the  money  for  educa- 
tion. 

Distributed  to  counties  and 
by  them  to  townships  on 
basis  of  state  tax  paid. 
Used  for  schools,  buildings, 
and  other  township  ex- 
penses. About  $600,000 
is  now  a  lost  fund  on  which 
interest  is  paid  annually 
by  a  tax. 


MONEY   GRANTS   IN   SUPPORT   OF   EDUCATION  59 

Distribution  of  the  Surplus  Revenue,  1837  —  Continued 


State 


New  York 


North  Carolina 


Ohio 


Pennsylvania 
Rhode  Island 


South  Carolina 


Tennessee 


No.  in 
Congress 


42 


15 


30 


15 


Amount 
Received 


$4,014,520 


1,433,727 


2,007,260 


2,867,514 


382,335 


1,051,422 


1,433,727 


Disposition  or  Present  Use 


Deposited  with  counties  to 
be  loaned  at  seven  per  cent. 
Badly  managed  in  some 
counties.  About  $334,000 
has  been  lost.  Income 
spent  for  schools,  libraries, 
and  principal  of  fund. 

Used  $100,000  for  state  ex- 
penses. Balance  invested 
for  school  fund.  Bor- 
rowed by  State  during 
Civil  War  and  debt  re- 
pudiated by  state. 

Divided  among  counties  on 
male  population  basis. 
Five  per  cent  interest  to 
be  used  for  schools.  State 
loaned  about  half  for  a 
canal  project.  Balance, 
not  known,  added  to 
school  fund. 

By  1840,  whole  of  fund  had 
been  used  for  state  ex- 
penses. 

Deposited  in  banks.  Interest 
for  schools.  In  1840, 
State  began  to  borrow  it. 
In  1859,  the  remainder, 
$155,541,  was  transferred 
to  the  permanent  school 
fund. 

Invested  in  stocks,  to  the 
credit  of  the  state.  Lost 
in  the  Civil  War. 
Invested  in  stock  of  State 
bank;  $118,000  of  the 
interest  was  to  go  for 
schools  and  academies. 
Bank  failed  in  Civil  War. 
In  1866,  an  indebtedness 


6o 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


Distribution  of  the  Surplus  Revenue,  1837  —  Continued 


State 


Vermont 


Virginia 


No.   IN 
Congress 


23 


Amount 
Received 


669,086 


3,198,427 


Disposition  or  Present  Use 


of  the  State  to  the  school 
fund  to  the  extent  of 
$1,500,000  was  recognized. 
Interest  raised  by  tax  goes 
to  schools. 

Loaned  to  the  towns  —  the 
interest  to  be  used  for 
schools.  About  20%  of 
the  fund  is  in  actual  ex- 
istence. 80%  exists  only 
as  a  "Credit  Fund"  or 
state  debt. 

In  1837,  transferred  $225,792 
to  "Literary"  or  School 
fund.  Interest  on  this 
paid  to  the  time  of  the 
Civil  War.     Fund  lost.1 


C.     THE    DISTRIBUTIVE    ACT    OF    1841 

This  distribution  was  so  popular  with  the  states  that 
attempts  were  made  similarly  to  distribute  each  year 
the  net  proceeds  of  public-land  sales.  No  clear,  con- 
tinuing plan  could  be  formulated,  and  so  the  act  that 
was  passed  in  September,  1 841,  was  to  lapse  automatically 
(1)  if  the  country  became  involved  in  a  foreign  war,  (2) 
if  the  minimum  sale  price  of  lands  was  increased,  or 
(3)  if  the  tariff  duties  were  advanced  to  a  "higher  rate 
than  twenty  per  centum."     With  all  these  conditions 


1  For  a  most  carefully  detailed  account  of  each  of  these  funds,  see 
R.  G.  Bourne's  History  of  the  Surplus  Revenue  of  1837. 


MONEY   GRANTS   IN   SUPPORT   OF   EDUCATION  6 1 

imposed,  the  act  could  not  remain  long  in  force ;  indeed, 
the  Tariff  Act  of  August,  1842,  put  an  end  to  it. 
This  "Distributive  Act"  of  1841  proposed: 

(1)  To  give  to  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Alabama, 
Missouri,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Michi- 
gan, each,  an  additional  and  clear  ten  per  cent  of  the 
net  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  public  lands  within  their 
borders.  This  was  over  and  above  the  percentages 
specified  in  the  "compacts"  of  admission. 

(2)  After  deducting  from  the  net  proceeds  the  per- 
centages specified  above,  to  divide  the  remainder 
among  all  the  states  of  the  Union,  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  the  territories  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Florida, 
"according  to  their  respective  federal  representative 
population  as  ascertained  by  the  last  census."  Each 
state  and  territory  was  to  be  permitted  to  spend  the 
money  as  it  chose,  but  the  share  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  was  to  be  "applied  to  free  schools,  or  educa- 
tion in  some  other  form." 

Only  one  distribution  was  made  under  this  act. 
The  amount  was  $691,116.45.  Tennessee  put  her 
share  ($29,703.28)  into  the  school  fund.  The  District 
of  Columbia  received  $1,643.72  for  schools.1  The  plan 
was  never  revived.2 

1  A  complete  statement  of  the  distribution  under  the  act  of  1841  is  to 
be  found  in  Donaldson's  The  Public  Domain,  p.  753. 

2  The  provisions  just  quoted  were  the  first  part  of  the  act  which  gave 
500,000  acres  of  land  to  certain  public-land  states  for  internal  improve- 
ments.    The  latter  part  of  the  act  was  not  affected  by  the  Tariff  Act  of 


62  THE  NATION  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 

D.     FORESTRY  SERVICE  RETURNS  AND  OTHER  MINOR 
GRANTS 

In  1908,  the  appropriation  act  for  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  included  a  provision  "that  hereafter  twenty- 
five  per  centum  of  all  money  received  from  each  forest 
reserve  during  any  fiscal  year,  including  the  year  1908, 
shall  be  paid  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  the 
State  or  Territory  in  which  said  reserve  is  situated,  to 
be  expended  as  the  State  or  Territorial  legislature  may 
prescribe  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  schools  and 
public  roads  of  the  county  or  counties  in  which  the  forest 
reserve  is  situated."  The  fund  amounts  to  about 
$500,000  annually. 

Maine  had  a  claim  against  the  Government  for  services 
rendered  in  the  War  ofi8i2.  In  1823,  the  money  thus 
received  by  Maine  from  the  Federal  Government 
through  Massachusetts  was  made  part  of  the  school 
fund.  Twelve  years  later,  the  legislature  took  this 
money  out  of  the  school  fund  and  used  it  for  general 
purposes. 

The  "Direct  War  Tax"  of  1861  was  returned  to  the 
states  and  territories  by  act  of  Congress  in  1891.  Three 
states  added  this  money  to  their  school  funds :  Mas- 
sachusetts ($696,407),  Kentucky  ($606,641),  and  South 
Carolina. 

In  1904,  Vermont  added  $240,000  to  her  school  fund 

1842,  and  it  has  been  applied,  in  substance  and  as  already  shown,  to 
every  state  admitted  since  that  time. 


MONEY   GRANTS   IN   SUPPORT   OF   EDUCATION         63 

by  appropriating  the  amount  received  from  the  Federal 
Government  as  reimbursement  for  moneys  spent  in 
the  Spanish  American  War. 

Congress  appropriated  money  directly  to  Oklahoma 
in  lieu  of  lands  in  Indian  Territory,  —  a  total  of 
$5,000,000  (1906). l 

The  Federal  Government  provides  the  entire  expense 
of  education  in  Alaska  and  one  half  the  cost  of  operating 
public  schools  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

One  of  the  original  states  secured  a  grant  of  land  for 
educational  purposes,  for,  on  March  3,  1819,  Congress 
granted  one  township  (23,040  acres)  to  the  Connecticut 
Asylum  for  the  education  of  deaf  and  dumb  persons. 

In  1906,  Congress  granted  ''to  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Francis  160  acres  of  land  on  which  the  St.  Louis  School, 
near  Pawhuska,  is  located,  and  160  acres  on  which  the 
St.  John's  School,  on  Homing  Creek,  Osage  Indian 
Reservation,  is  located."  2 

Practically  every  session  of  Congress  has  educational 
money  grants  or  land  grants  to  consider.  The  most 
famous  of  the  land  grants  and  the  largest  continuing 
money  grant  for  educational  purposes  will  be  con- 
sidered in  the  next  chapter. 

1  See  p.  112.        2  U.  S.  Com.  Report,  1906,  Vol.  2,  p.  1239. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Morrill  Acts  and  the  "Land-Grant"  Colleges 

The  principles  and  policies  involved  in  the  foregoing 
forms  of  federal  aid  to  education  having  been  tested 
and  established  by  experience,  a  new  type  of  federal  aid 
to  higher  technical  instruction  was  destined  to  appear. 
The  colleges  and  universities  founded  upon  the  township 
grants  of  land  came  into  direct  competition  with  exist- 
ing colleges  which  were  dependent  to  a  large  extent 
upon  tuition  from  students  and  upon  endowments  the 
income  from  which  had  to  be  devoted  to  specific  ends. 
Moreover,  these  new  state  colleges  recruited  most  of 
their  teachers  from  the  older  institutions.  In  conse- 
quence, the  traditions  and  points  of  view  of  these  older 
colleges  determined  very  largely  the  policies  of  the  state 
institutions.  Beyond  all  this  was  the  compelling  force 
of  a  public  opinion  formed  very  largely  by  people  who 
were  familiar  with  the  purposes  and  standards  of  the 
older  colleges.  Small  wonder  then  that  weak,  struggling, 
pioneer  colleges  and  "universities"  had  as  their  ideal 
from  1840  to  i860  the  reproduction  in  the  new  lands  of 
a  Harvard,  a  Yale,  or  a  Princeton.  The  presence,  too, 
of  many  denominational  colleges  in  the  Middle  West 
made  the  success  of  the  public-land  colleges  uncertain. 

64 


THE    MORRILL   ACTS   AND    "  LAND-GRANT "    COLLEGES      65 

Gradually,  however,  an  ever-increasing  opposition 
to  the  exclusively  classical  type  of  collegiate  work  grew 
up.  This  new  point  of  view  came  to  be  called  the 
"Industrial  Movement,"  and  may  be  looked  upon  as 
the  initial  educational  expression  of  the  great  social 
and  economic  transformation  that  is  now  known  as 
the  Industrial  Revolution.  Although  European  in  its 
origin,  the  Industrial  Movement  in  education  found  a 
ready  soil  in  America,  both  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
and  in  the  more  remote  parts  of  the  country.  In 
Michigan,  the  State  Normal  School l  at  Ypsilanti  was 
the  immediate  result  of  this  movement;  so,  too,  in 
Illinois,  the  State  Normal  University  at  Normal.  These 
schools  "were  to  give  instruction  in  husbandry,  agri- 
cultural chemistry,  and  animal  and  vegetable  physiol- 
ogy," as  well  as  to  prepare  teachers  for  the  public  schools. 
In  1857,  Michigan  opened  her  State  Agricultural  College, 
the  first  fruit  of  the  Industrial  Movement  in  higher 
education,  although  Pennsylvania,  in  1855,  had  es- 
tablished a  "Farmers'  High  School"  which  in  1863 
became  the  state's  College  of  Agriculture.2 

Before  considering  the  comprehensive  answer  made 
by  Congress  to  this  demand  for  a  more  practical  type 
of  higher  education,  one  other  element  should  be  noticed. 
The  original  states  were  never  entirely  satisfied  with 
the  disposal  that  had  been  made  of  the  public  lands. 

1  Now  the  Michigan  State  Normal  College. 

2  Now  the  Pennsylvania  State  College, 
p 


66  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

Even  before  the  Land  Ordinance  of  1785,  setting  aside 
Lot  No.  16,  Maryland  had  memorialized  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  to  make  an  equitable  distribution  of 
the  land  revenues  among  the  original  states  whose 
sacrifices  and  endeavors  had  won  the  National  domain. 
In  fact,  the  Maryland  legislature  went  so  far  as  to  make 
this  concession  a  condition  precedent  to  her  acceptance 
of  the  Articles  of  Confederation.1  While  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  surplus  revenue  somewhat  mollified  the 
original  states,  the  facts  regarding  this  distribution 
gradually  faded  from  the  public  mind,  and  by  1855  the 
states  that  had  not  shared  in  the  benefits  of  Lot  No.  16 
were  inclined  to  feel  that  Congress  should  do  something 
in  an  educational  way  for  them. 

Such  was  the  general  situation  when,  in  December, 
1855,  Justin  S.  Morrill  appeared  in  Congress  as  repre- 
sentative from  Vermont.  He  had  been  elected  by  a 
majority  of  only  fifty-nine  votes.  Shortly  before  his 
election,  at  the  age  of  about  forty,  he  had  given  up  his 
business  and  retired  on  a  modest  competence  that  had 
been  accumulated  within  fifteen  years.  December,  1855, 
however,  marks  the  beginning  of  his  real  career.  Al- 
though he  was  forty-five  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 

1  Maryland  held  persistently  to  this  idea,  and  joined  with  Pennsyl- 
vania and  other  states  in  1821  in  a  second  memorial  to  Congress ;  indeed, 
it  was  not  until  1825  that  Maryland  took  any  substantial  steps  toward 
establishing  a  public-school  system.  Even  then  the  maintenance  of 
schools  was  made  optional  with  the  counties,  and  the  movement  conse- 
quently failed. 


THE   MORRILL  ACTS  AND   "LAND-GRANT"   COLLEGES       67 

first  election,  he  served  twelve  years  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  thirty-two  years  in  the  Senate. 
"He  was  equally  the  philosopher  and  the  man  of  ac- 
tion. .  .  .  Mere  majorities  had  no  meaning  for  him, 
except  as  they  accorded  with  his  own  convictions  of 
truth  and  duty.  ...  He  always  gave  the  impression 
of  one  who  walked  by  an  inner  light  and  drew  the  in- 
spiration of  his  life  from  unseen  and  immortal  springs."  1 
Such  was  the  man  who  during  his  remarkable  service 
of  forty-four  years  in  Congress  was  the  foremost  ex- 
ponent of  the  Industrial  Movement  in  higher  education. 
His  substantial  achievements  have  given  him  an  en- 
during place  in  educational  history.  More  than  half  a 
hundred  flourishing  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic 
arts  will  keep  his  memory  alive  as  long  as  the  nation 
lives. 

The  first  Morrill  Bill,  providing  for  a  land  grant  to 
each  state  for  the  establishment,  endowment,  and 
maintenance  of  an  agricultural  and  mechanical  college, 
was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
December,  1857.  It  was  unfavorably  reported  in  April, 
1858,  but  with  a  minority  report  attached.  Mr.  Morrill 
made  a  clear  and  convincing  speech.  He  contended 
that  the  money  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  national 
domain  should  be  equitably  distributed  to  all  sections 

1  U.  S.  Com.  Report,  Vol.  2,  1899-1900,  p.  1324.  The  Legislative 
Career  of  Justin  S.  Morrill,  by  G.  W.  Atherton,  President  Pennsylvania 
State  College. 


68  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

of  the  country,  that  the  policy  of  grants  of  land  in  aid 
of  education  was  too  well  established  to  be  opposed  on 
constitutional  grounds,  and  that  to  distribute  this  com- 
mon fund  as  his  bill  proposed  would  greatly  benefit 
the  masses  by  putting  the  new  discoveries  of  science 
at  the  disposal  of  agriculture  and  other  industries. 
In  spite  of  the  adverse  committee  report,  the  vote  in 
the  House  was  105  for,  and  100  against,  the  Morrill  Bill. 
The  bill,  because  of  the  violence  of  the  opposition 
to  it,  was  not  brought  up  in  the  Senate  until  February, 
1859.  It  was  championed  by  Senator  Wade  of  Ohio. 
The  debate  was  stormy  and  a  few  amendments  were 
made.     Senator  Clay,  of  Alabama,  said  : 

"The  Federal  Government  is  the  creature  of  the  States  and  is 
dependent  upon  them  for  its  organization  and  operation.  All 
its  powers  are  subordinate  to  the  States  from  whom  they  are 
derived.  The  States  are  in  no  wise  dependent  upon  the  Federal 
Government  for  their  operation,  organization,  support,  or  main- 
tenance. I  stand  as  an  ambassador  from  a  sovereign  State,  no 
more  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Federal  Government,  except 
in  a  few  instances  provided  in  the  Constitution,  than  any  foreign 
and  independent  State.  This  bill  treats  the  States  as  agents  in- 
stead of  principals,  as  creatures  instead  of  creators,  and  proposes 
to  give  them  their  own  property  and  direct  them  how  to  use  it." 

Notwithstanding  this  argument  and  many  others,  the 
echoes  of  which  are  still  heard  occasionally  in  Congress, 
the  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  twenty-five  to 
twenty- two.  The  House  concurred  in  the  amendments 
and  —  President  Buchanan  vetoed  the  measure  on  the 


: 


THE   MORRILL  ACTS   AND   "  LAND-GRANT "   COLLEGES       69 

ground  that  the  Government  was  too  poor  to  give  up  its 
sources  of  income  for  this  purpose,  and  on  the  further 
ground  that  the  bill  was  unconstitutional. 

There  was  no  thought  of  passing  the  measure  over 
the  President's  veto,  and  so  the  bill  disappeared  until 
December,  1861,  when  Mr.  Morrill  reintroduced  it  in 
the  House.  Finding  it  impossible  to  get  the  bill  consid- 
ered by  the  House  Committee  because  of  the  important 
war  legislation  that  was  pending,  he  had  the  bill  in- 
troduced in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Wade  in  May,  1862. 
On  June  10,  the  Senate  passed  the  bill  by  a  vote  of 
thirty-two  to  seven.  The  Senate  bill  then  went  over 
to  the  House  and  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  ninety  to 
twenty-rive  on  June  17.  It  was  signed  by  President 
Lincoln  on  July  2,  1862. 

This  act,  undoubtedly  the  most  momentous  law  ever 
enacted  in  the  interest  of  higher  education,  included  the 
following  provisions : 

1.  Each  existing  state  and  each  new  state  admitted 
into  the  Union  "shall  be  entitled  to  as  many  times 
30,000  acres  of  public  land  (not  mineral  bearing)  as 
it  had  in  i860  or  has,  at  the  time  of  its  admission, 
representatives  in  both  houses  of  Congress.  When 
there  is  not  enough  (or  no)  public  land  within  a  state, 
scrip  x  shall  be  issued ;   but  no  state  shall  locate  lands 

1  Scrip  is  the  name  applied  to  a  certificate,  issued  by  the  Federal 
Government  or  State,  which  entitles  the  owner  to  receive  a  specified 
allotment  of  land. 


70  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

in  another  state  save  through  assignees,  nor  shall  any 
portion  of  land  be  located  smaller  than  a  quarter  sec- 
tion." 

This  provision  gave  the  older  and  more  populous 
states  the  advantage  and  evened  up  the  score.  For 
example,  New  York  received  900,000  acres  and  Iowa 
240,000  acres.  Practically  every  state  that  has  entered 
the  Union  since  1862  has  received  only  90,000  acres 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  —  30,000  acres  for  each 
of  its  two  senators  and  an  equal  amount  for  its  repre- 
sentative. 

2.  Ten  per  cent  or  less  of  the  entire  gross  proceeds 
of  the  grant  could  be  used,  if  authorized  by  the  legis- 
lature, in  the  purchase  of  land  for  sites  or  experimental 
farms. 

3.  The  interest  of  the  entire  remaining  gross  proceeds 
of  the  grant  were  to  be  used  "  for  the  endowment,  support, 
and  maintenance  of  at  least  one  college  where  the  lead- 
ing object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other  scientific 
and  classical  studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to 
teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts  in  such  manner  as  the 
legislatures  of  the  states  may  respectively  prescribe,  in 
order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education 
of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  pro- 
fessions of  life." 

This  provision  obligated  every  state  accepting  the 
provisions  and  bounty  of  the  act  to  maintain  a  college 


THE   MORRILL  ACTS  AND       LAND-GRANT      COLLEGES        71 

as  a  part  of  its  public  educational  system.  The  college 
thus  maintained  was  not  to  be  a  trade  school,  but  a 
technical  college  with  liberal  features.  The  compulsory 
military-training  work  in  these  schools  was  included 
because  of  the  existing  war  situation,  and  served  the 
country  in  good  stead  in  191 7,  for  it  provided  a  large 
group  of  well-educated  young  men  who  understood  the 
elements  of  military  drill  and  who  could  begin,  after  a 
brief  period  of  more  intensive  preparation,  the  pre- 
liminary training  of  troops. 

4.  "An  annual  report  shall  be  made  regarding  the 
progress  of  each  college,  recording  improvements  and 
experiments  made,  with  their  cast  and  result,  and  such 
other  matters,  including  state,  industrial,  and  economic 
statistics,  as  may  be  useful,  one  copy  of  which  shall  be 
transmitted  by  mail  free  by  each  to  all  the  other  colleges 
of  the  same  class,  and  one  copy  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior." 

This  provision  bound  the  colleges  together,  inform- 
ing each  of  what  the  others  were  doing,  and  insuring 
that  each  would  render  a  service  to  all. 

5.  The  state  legislature  must  formally  accept  the 
grant  within  three  years,  must  establish  at  least  one 
school  of  the  character  set  forth  above  within  five  years, 
must  replace  all  losses  to  the  fund,  must  invest  the  en- 
tire gross  proceeds,  after  making  the  permitted  ex- 
penditures, in  safe  stocks  yielding  not  less  than  five  per 
cent  on  their  par  value,  and  must  use  the  interest  wholly 


72  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

—  excluding  the  purchase,  erection,  preservation,  or 
repair  of  any  building  or  buildings  —  in  support  of  the 
school  or  schools  established  by  the  act. 

This  made  the  fund  a  " perpetual  fund,"  to  remain 
"forever  undiminished,"  and  to  be  "inviolably  ap- 
propriated" to  the  purposes  prescribed  in  the  act. 
Such  safeguards  around  the  federal  land  grants  from 
the  beginning  would  have  saved  many  millions  of 
dollars  to  the  cause  of  education. 

This  first  Morrill  Act  gave  to  the  states  a  grand  total 
of  10,400,000  acres  of  land,  the  equivalent  of  12,250 
square  miles,  an  area  one  and  a  half  times  as  great  as 
that  of  Massachusetts,  or  New  Jersey,  and  just  about 
equal  to  the  area  of  Maryland.  The  distribution  of 
this  land  to  the  several  states  is  shown  in  the  table  on 
the  following  page. 

One  thing  Congress  failed  to  do,  —  it  did  not  fix,  in 
1862,  a  minimum  price  for  which  the  lands  might  be  sold 
by  the  states.  The  college  lands,  therefore,  came  into 
competition  with  the  unsold  national  lands.  This 
competition  tended  to  force  the  price  down  to  the  govern- 
ment price  of  $1.25  per  acre.  Some  of  the  states  that 
had  no  national  lands  within  their  borders  even  sold 
their  scrip  to  an  assignee,  at  as  low  a  price  as  fifty  to 
sixty  cents  an  acre.  The  assignee  then  either  sold  his 
scrip  to  someone  else  or  located  his  lands  and  sold  them 
in  the  open  market.  Like  Lot  No.  16,  the  Morrill  en- 
dowment fell  far  short  of  its  possibilities. 


THE    MORRILL  ACTS   AND   "  LAND-GRANT "   COLLEGES       73 


Name  of  State 

Acres  Received 
under  Grant 

Acres  Unsold 

Date  of  Opening 
of  Institution 

Alabama 

240,000 

0 

1872 

Arizona  .     . 

150,000 

150,000 

1891 

Arkansas    . 

150,000 

0 

1872 

California  . 

150,000 

1,042 

1869 

Colorado     . 

90,000 

34,153 

1879 

Connecticut 

180,000 

0 

1881 

Delaware    . 

90,000 

0 

1834 

Florida  .     . 

90,000 

0 

1884 

Georgia .     . 

270,000 

0 

1872 

Idaho     .     . 

90,000 

62,643 

1892 

Illinois   .     . 

480,000 

0 

1868 

Indiana .     . 

390,000 

0 

1874 

Iowa .     .     . 

204,309 

0 

1869 

Kansas  .     . 

90,000 

7,686 

1863 

Kentucky  . 

330,000 

O 

1866 

Louisiana   . 

209,920 

0 

i860 

Maine    .     . 

210,000 

0 

1868 

Maryland  . 

210,000 

0 

1859 

Massachusetts 

360,000 

0 

1867 

Michigan    . 

235,663 

50,48S 

1857 

Minnesota  . 

94,439 

0 

185 1 

Mississippi 

209,920 

0 

1880 

Missouri 

277,067 

47,287 

1841 

Montana    . 

138,954 

69,147 

1893 

Nebraska    . 

90,000 

1,727 

1871 

Nevada .     . 

90,000 

14 

1874 

New  Hampshi 

re 

150,000 

0 

1868 

New  Jersey 

210,000 

0 

1864 

New  Mexico 

150,000 

91,909 

1890 

New  York  . 

989,920 

0 

1868 

North  Carolina 

270,000 

0 

1889 

North  Dakota 

130,000 

35,843 

1891 

Ohio  .... 

629,920 

0 

1873 

Oklahoma  .     . 

250,000 

250,000 

1891 

Oregon  .     .     . 

89,908 

920 

1865 

Pennsylvania  . 

780,000 

0 

1859 

Rhode  Island  . 

120,000 

0 

1890 

South  Carolina    . 

180,000 

0 

1893 

South  Dakota 

160,000 

141,140 

1884 

Tennessee  .     .     . 

300,000 

0 

1794 

Texas     .     .     . 

180,000 

0 

1876 

Utah.     .     .     . 

200,000 

5i,78i 

1890 

Vermont     .     . 

149,920 

0 

1801 

Virginia .     . 

300,000 

0 

1872 

Washington     . 

89,438 

77,870 

1892 

West  Virginia . 

150,000 

0 

1868 

Wisconsin  .     . 

240,005 

40 

1850 

Wyoming    .     . 

89,832 

75,875 

1887 

74  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

Ezra  Cornell,  of  New  York,  offered  to  take  all  of  that 
state's  scrip  at  sixty  cents  an  acre,  and  to  pay  the  state 
as  he  sold  the  land,  with  the  understanding  that  all 
receipts  above  sixty  cents  an  acre  should  become  an 
endowment  for  a  university.  This  offer  was  accepted. 
Mr.  Cornell  located  the  scrip  in  the  white-pine  district 
of  Wisconsin,  and  eventually  sold  most  of  the  land  at 
an  average  price  of  $6.73  an  acre.  This  gave  Cornell 
University  an  endowment  in  excess  of  five  and  one  half 
million  dollars. 

Pennsylvania  sold  most  of  her  scrip  for  fifty-five 
cents  an  acre,  and  Ohio  for  fifty-four  cents.  While 
this  low-priced  selling  now  seems  almost  criminal, 
we  must  remember  that  each  state  was  anxious  to 
realize  immediately  on  its  scrip.  The  situation  was 
uncertain.  The  Civil  War  was  at  its  height,  prices 
were  soaring,  the  currency  was  inflated,  —  and  the 
college  had  to  be  established  within  five  years.  In 
1889,  Congress  corrected  this  defect  in  the  law,  and 
states  coming  into  the  Union  since  that  time  are  given 
large  blocks  of  land  that  cannot  be  sold  until  they  will 
bring  at  least  $10  an  acre ;  the  lands  consequently  are 
leased,  under  certain  restrictions,  until  they  can  be  sold 
for  the  price  that  has  been  fixed.  The  establishment 
of  colleges,  however,  is  not  delayed ;  the  lands  thus 
conditioned  are  made  security  for  bonds  issued  by  the 
state,  the  state  paying  the  interest  annually  and  using 
the  proceeds  of   the  bonds  for  educational  purposes. 


THE    MORRILL  ACTS   AND    "  LAND-GRANT       COLLEGES        75 

These  large  blocks  of  land,  as  well  as  meeting  the  con- 
ditions of  the  first  Morrill  Act,  are  in  lieu  of  former 
separate  grants  such  as  "internal-improvement  grants," 
"salt  lands,"  and  "swamp  and  overflowed  lands." 

The  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts  es- 
tablished in  the  several  states  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act  were  beset  with  difficulties  during  and  follow- 
ing the  Civil  War.  Their  particular  field  was  new ; 
few  teachers  were  qualified  to  do  the  specialized 
technical  work  demanded  by  their  purpose;  perti- 
nent subject-matter  was  not  abundant,  for  farming 
was  still  very  largely  an  empirical  art  rather  than 
an  applied  science;  and  the  established  colleges  and 
universities  were  not  friendly.  All  of  these  facts  should 
be  borne  in  mind  by  one  who  is  disposed  to  criticize 
the  early  work  of  the  agricultural  colleges.  By  1872, 
these  new  institutions  were  in  need  of  additional  Federal 
assistance.  The  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  public  lands 
kept  pouring  into  the  National  Treasury.  Senator 
Morrill  wished  to  create  from  these  receipts  an  endow- 
ment or  permanent  fund,  the  proceeds  of  which  could 
be  used  only  for  the  support  of  the  state  colleges  of 
agriculture  and  mechanic  arts.  Representative  Hoar, 
of  Massachusetts,  was  equally  anxious  to  use  the  pro- 
ceeds of  such  a  permanent  fund  for  the  public  schools 
of  the  several  states,  apportioning  these  funds  to  the 
states  partly  on  a  population  basis  and  partly  on  an 
illiteracy  basis.     The  two  finally  agreed  to  divide  the 


76  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

proceeds  of  the  fund  equally  at  the  outset,  but  the 
college  fund  was  to  be  limited  to  $50,000  a  year  to 
each  state  while  the  common-school  fund  was  to  have 
no  limit.  Two  bills  drawn  to  meet  this  compromise 
passed  the  House  in  1872,  but  were  defeated  in  the 
Senate. 

In  1873,  Senator  Morrill  introduced  a  measure  combin- 
ing the  two  bills  and  Representative  Hoar  reintroduced 
his  own  bill  in  the  House.  Charges  had  been  made  that 
the  land-grant  institutions  were  not  fulfilling  the  pur- 
pose for  which  they  had  been  established,  and  Mr.  James 
Monroe,  of  Ohio,  moved  to  "investigate  the  colleges 
established  under  the  grants  of  the  Act  of  July  2,  1862." 
This  investigation  was  completed  in  1875  and  Mr. 
Monroe  himself  made  the  report,  —  one  entirely  favor- 
able to  the  colleges,  —  yet  Senator  Morrill's  plan  for  a 
permanent  cash  endowment  had  to  wait  fifteen  years 
after  this  report  before  it  was  written  into  law. 

In  1887,  March  2,  the  "Hatch  Act"  establishing  an 
"Experiment  Station"  at  each  college  of  agriculture 
and  mechanic  arts  was  passed.  This  act  provided  an 
annual  subsidy  of  $15,000  for  each  such  college  in  order 
that  original  researches  might  be  carried  on  and  verifica- 
tions of  experiments  made.  The  general  field  of  such 
experimentation  is  specified  in  the  act.  Each  state  is 
required  to  accept  the  act  formally  and  agree  to  carry 
out  its  purposes.  Without  giving  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment any  real  control,  the  act  specified  that : 


THE   MORRILL  ACTS  AND   "  LAND-GRANT      COLLEGES        77 

"The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  shall  furnish  forms,  ...  for 
the  tabulation  of  results  of  investigation,  shall  indicate  from  time 
to  time  such  lines  of  inquiry  as  shall  seem  to  him  important,  and 
in  general  shall  furnish  such  advice  and  assistance  as  will  best 
promote  the  purpose  of  the  law."  Each  Experiment  Station  must 
publish  a  bulletin  at  least  once  in  three  months  "which  shall 
be  sent  by  Government  frank  to  each  newspaper  in  the  State 
and  to  such  persons  who  are  actually  engaged  in  agriculture  who 
shall  request  the  same,  as  far  as  the  means  of  the  Station  shall 
permit." 

The  Hatch  Act  was  a  needed  supplement  to  the  earlier 
legislation.  From  the  outset,  the  colleges  had  been 
handicapped  by  the  relative  paucity  of  well-established 
scientific  principles  in  the  field  of  practical  agriculture. 
As  a  result  the  instruction  tended  to  be  either  remotely 
theoretical  or  entirely  empirical  and  "rule-of- thumb" 
in  character.  The  experimental  stations,  by  accumulat- 
ing an  ever-increasing  number  of  tested  facts  and 
principles,  have  given  to  the  colleges  the  materials  which 
they  needed  most  to  meet  the  clear  intent  of  the  first 
Morrill  Act. 

The  law  of  August  30,  1890,  the  second  Morrill  Act, 
was  designed  "to  more  completely  endow  the  colleges 
established  under  the  law  of  July  2,  1862."  It  pro- 
vided, out  of  the  money  arising  from  the  sale  of  public 
lands,  an  annual  subsidy  of  $15,000  "for  the  more  com- 
plete endowment  and  maintenance"  of  each  college  of 
agriculture  and  mechanic  arts.  This  subsidy  was  to 
increase  by  $1000  a  year  until  it  should  reach  $25,000 


78  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

as  the  yearly  grant.  The  amounts  thus  received  "shall 
be  applied  only  to  instruction  in  agriculture,  the  me- 
chanic arts,  the  English  language,  and  the  various 
branches  of  mathematical,  physical,  natural,  and  eco- 
nomic science,  with  special  reference  to  their  application 
in  the  industries  of  life  and  to  the  facilities  for  instruc- 
tion." Reports  were  to  be  made  and  exchanged.  The 
funds  available  could  be  divided  in  any  state  on  the 
color  line,  but  were  to  be  used  exclusively  for  operating 
expenses.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  was  charged 
with  the  proper  administration  of  the  law,  thus  re- 
vealing a  slight  growth  in  the  principle  of  Federal 
supervision  over  the  institutions  established  by  Federal 
bounty.  How  this  matter  was  considered  by  Mr. 
Morrill  is  best  told  by  stating  that  in  the  title  of  his  bill 
of  1873  he  specifically  designates  the  schools  formed 
under  the  act  of  1862  as  "National  colleges  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  general  scientific  and  industrial  education." 
The  Hatch  Act  and  the  second  Morrill  Act  provided 
money  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands.  This  fund 
would  of  necessity  decrease  as  the  public  lands  decreased, 
and  the  institutions  might,  in  consequence,  find  them- 
selves with  a  decreasing  annual  subsidy.  Senator 
Morrill,  with  his  usual  foresight,  did  not  overlook  this 
danger.  In  March,  1898,  he  introduced  a  bill  which 
provided  that,  whenever  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of 
public  lands  should  be  less  than  is  required  by  the  act 
of  1890,  the  deficiency  should  be  paid  from  any  funds 


THE   MORRILL  ACTS  AND   "LAND-GRANT"   COLLEGES       79 

in  the  National  Treasury  which  are  not  otherwise  ap- 
propriated. The  enactment  of  this  bill  into  law  es- 
tablished a  clear  and  incontestable  precedent  for  money 
grants  in  aid  of  education,  the  source  of  which  would  be 
current  Federal  taxes.1 

In  March,  1906,  Congress  passed  the  "  Adams  Act," 
an  amendment  of  the  Hatch  Act.  This  was  for  the 
"more  complete  endowment  and  maintenance  of  agri- 
cultural experiment  stations,"  and  increased  the  ap- 
propriations by  easy  stages  to  $30,000  a  year  for  each 
of  the  "land-grant"  colleges  that  maintained  an  experi- 
ment station. 

In  March,  1907,  the  "Nelson  Amendment"  to  the 
second  Morrill  Act  of  1890  was  passed.  This  amend- 
ment increased  the  cash  appropriation  for  "endowment 
and  support"  from  $25,000  annually,  by  increments 
of  $5000  a  year,  to  $50,000  annually. 

Attention  should  also  be  called  to  the  Smith-Lever 

1  The  best  available  materials  on  the  subject  of  the  Colleges  of  Agri- 
culture and  Mechanic  Arts  are  : 

1.  U.  S.  Com.  Edn.  Report,  Vol.  2,  1894-5,  PP-  1 189-12 10. 

2.  Ibid.,  Vol.  2,  1896-7,  pp.  1137-1264. 

3.  Ibid.,  Vol.  2,  1899-1900,  pp.  1321-1335. 

4.  Ibid.,  Vol.  1,  1902,  pp.  1-82. 

5.  Ibid.,  Vol.  1,  1903,  pp.  39-222. 

The  last  two  references  contain  a  compilation  of  the  laws  of  Congress 
and  of  the  states  relative  to  Colleges  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts, 
from  1862  to  1903. 

6.  I.  L.  Kandel :  Federal  Aid  for  Vocational  Education.  Bui.  No. 
10,  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of  Teaching  (New  York, 
1917). 


80  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

Act  of  May,  1914,  which  made  in  1915-16  an  annual 
appropriation  of  $1,113,490  to  the  states  for  agricultural 
extension  work,  including  the  support  of  "Farmers' 
Institutes."  The  states  added  $1,364,356  for  the  same 
purposes.  These  latest  appropriations  would  seem  to 
complete  in  a  fair  way  the  Federal  subventions  for  the 
work  of  the  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts. 
The  Smith-Hughes  Act1  of  February,  1917,  provides 
for  industrial  and  agricultural  work,  but  with  this  later 
legislation,  the  Federal  stimulus  passed  from  the  colleges 
to  schools  "of  less  than  college  grade." 

The  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  starting 
at  the  zero  point  on  January  1,  1863,  have  had  a  most 
remarkable  growth,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they 
have  been  pioneers  in  a  new  type  of  education  opposed 
in  many  ways  to  the  ideals  of  existing  institutions. 
The  benefits  of  the  act  of  1862,  or  later  benefits  as  a 
substitute,  have  been  accepted  by  every  state,  and 
fifty- three  institutions  are  to-day  thus  aided.  These 
institutions  enrolled,  in  191 5-16,  a  total  of  130,499  stu- 
dents. Forty-eight  states  receive  $50,000  each  annu- 
ally,—  a  total  of  $2,400,000.  The  insular  possessions 
are  also  provided  for.  In  addition,  almost  a  million 
dollars  comes  each  year  from  interest  on  the  Land- 
Grant  Fund  of  1862,  the  principal  being,  in  1915-16, 
$15,105,925.00.  The  total  property  values  of  these 
fifty- three  land-grant  institutions  in  191 5-16  aggre- 
1  See  ch.  x. 


THE   MORRILL  ACTS  AND   " LAND-GRANT "   COLLEGES       8l 

gated  $179,519,438.  In  1915-16,  the  income  of  these 
institutions  from  the  bounty  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment was  as  follows : 

From  land  grant  of  1862      ....  $    884,514.00 

From  other  land  grants 193,573.00 

From  acts  of  1890  and  1907      .     .     .  2,500,000.00 

For  experiment  stations 1,362,000.00 

For  extension  work 1,113,490.00 

Total $6,053,577.00! 

This  chapter  has  been  long ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  tell, 
even  in  outline,  the  story  of  these  institutions  that  in 
a  brief  half  century  have  developed  so  remarkably,  that 
have  so  fully  justified  the  " Industrial  Movement"  out 
of  which  they  sprang,  and  that  constitute  so  fitting  a 
tribute  to  the  foresight  and  persistence  of  Justin  S. 
Morrill.  But  perhaps  the  greatest  lesson  of  the  Morrill 
Acts  lies  in  the  steadily  increasing  appropriations  that 
the  states  themselves  have  made  to  these  nationally- 
aided  colleges.  To-day,  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the 
maintenance  expenses  of  the  "land-grant"  colleges  is  met  by 
taxation  within  the  states  themselves.  Federal  aid,  far  from 
"pauperizing"  the  states,  or  tending  toward  a  reduction 
of  state  initiative  and  effort,  has  served  to  stimulate  the 
states  to  a  measure  of  self-activity  quite  unparalleled  in 
the  development  of  nationally  unaided  state  enterprises.2 

1  For  complete  statistics,  see  U.  S.  Com.  of  Edn.  Report,  19 17,  Vol.  2, 
PP-  37i-4o5- 

2  For  example,  in  the  nineteen  years  following  1896,  appropriations 
from  the  state  treasuries  to  the  land-grant  colleges  increased  eightfold; 
during  the  same  period  state  appropriations  to  the  nationally  unaided 
state  normal  schools  increased  only  threefold. 


G 


82  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

This  chapter  completes  the  story  of  Federal  land 
grants  for  educational  purposes.  The  public  domain  is 
not  yet  exhausted,  —  on  July  i,  1913,  there  were 
1,820,538,240  acres  of  land  as  yet  unappropriated.1 
Much  of  it,  however,  is  mountainous,  arid,  or  semi- 
arid.  It  will  come  into  the  market  only  as  the  pressure 
of  population  on  the  means  of  subsistence  forces  its  settle- 
ment and  cultivation.  So  far  as  a  source  of  revenue 
for  the  support  and  encouragement  of  education  is  con- 
cerned, the  unappropriated  public  land  is  of  little  ac- 
count, save  in  Alaska.2 

1  Quoted  in  Cubberley  and  Elliott's  State  and  County  School  Adminis- 
tration, p.  108. 

2  A  summary  table  setting  forth  the  principal  facts  regarding  Federal 
land  grants  for  educational  and  other  purposes  will  be  found  in  Ap- 
pendix A.  This  was  issued  by  the  General  Land  Office  in  August,  iqiq. 
It  is  corrective  of  facts  previously  quoted  in  tables,  variations  in  which 
are  inevitable,  as  the  tables  have  been  made  up  at  different  times. 


CHAPTER   IX 

Specific  National  Educational  Acts 

The  preceding  chapters  have  considered  land  and 
money  grants  by  which  the  Nation  has  promoted  educa- 
tion within  the  states.  In  each  case,  the  state  has,  so 
to  speak,  been  the  agent  through  which  the  Nation  has 
influenced  the  schools.  The  Federal  Government,  how- 
ever, has  undertaken  educational  work  independently 
of  the  states.  Federal  legislation  of  this  type  will  be 
the  theme  of  the  present  chapter. 

A.    THE  FREEDMEN's   BUREAU 

Up  to  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  educational  affairs 
in  the  South  were,  generally  speaking,  in  a  wretched  con- 
dition. Of  all  the  Southern  states,  North  Carolina  had 
made  the  most  creditable  record  and  had  made  a  fair 
start  toward  developing  a  state  system  of  public  schools. 
Elsewhere,  a  few  elementary  schools  and  academies  had 
been  established,  —  but  the  elementary  schools  were 
largely  for  the  poor  and  the  academies  for  a  wealthier 
group  which  demanded  the  classics  and  "accomplish- 
ments." In  the  larger  cities,  —  Charleston,  Mobile, 
New   Orleans,  —  a   little   progress   had   been   made   in 

83 


84  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

promoting  common  schools,  but,  on  the  whole,  free 
public  education  in  the  South  had  been  a  failure.  When 
the  war  closed,  "taxable  property  had  depreciated  sixty 
per  cent  at  a  stroke,  and  four  million  illiterates  (negroes) 
were  added  to  the  school  population.  The  educational 
problem  set  for  solution  was  how  to  educate  three  times 
the  number  of  children  with  one  third  the  money."  1 

There  were  no  teachers,  no  schoolhouses ;  the  private 
schools  had  been  closed  during  the  war  because  of  finan- 
cial difficulties.  There  was  a  deep-seated  prejudice 
against  public  schools  and  especially  against  educating 
the  negro.  One  Southern  writer  has  said:  "If  the  tree 
be  judged  by  its  fruits,  it  [the  public  school]  is  poisonous 
instead  of  salutary  to  republican  institutions  in  our  great 
cities." 

In  March,  1865,  Congress  created  a  "Bureau  of  Ref- 
ugees, Freedmen,  and  Abandoned  Lands."  So  long  a 
title  was  impossible ;  the  organization  soon  came  to  be 
known  as  the  "Freedmen's  Bureau."  There  were  many 
church  organizations  that  bore  the  same  title,  some  of 
which  had  been  organized  while  the  war  was  in  progress. 
The  Government  Bureau  worked  with  these  various 
agencies  and  with  whatever  Southern  associations, 
organizations,  or  institutions  it  could  interest  in  its 
plans  and  policies.  It  helped  to  establish  schools  in 
existing  buildings,  found  teachers  and  employed  them, 
and  did  perhaps  its  greatest  work  in  building  what  would 

1  Boone's  Education  in  the  United  States,  p.  350. 


SPECIFIC  NATIONAL  EDUCATIONAL  ACTS  85 

be  regarded  to-day  as  very  crude  schoolhouses.  It 
sought  the  cooperation  of  every  conceivable  organization 
in  the  North  to  furnish  money  for  carrying  on  a  work 
that  was  too  extensive  and  too  far-reaching  for  a  Bureau 
with  a  limited  budget  to  handle  alone.  Indeed,  during 
the  four  years  of  its  existence,  the  Freedmen's  Bureau 
of  the  United  States  Government  did  a  most  helpful 
piece  of  work  in  the  South.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
year  of  its  history,  it  employed  nearly  a  thousand 
teachers  and  enrolled  one  hundred  thousand  pupils  in 
its  schools.  At  the  end  of  four  years,  the  total  stood : 
teachers,  2500;    pupils,  250,000. 

The  Freedmen's  Bureau  helped  also  in  the  founding  of 
Howard  University  *  and  Wayland  Seminary,  at  Wash- 
ington ;  Fisk  University  and  the  State  Central  College, 
in  Tennessee ;  Straight  University,  in  Louisiana ;  Claf- 
lin  University,  in  South  Carolina;  and  Hampton 
Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute,  in  Virginia.  The 
last  named  became  the  type  and  pattern  for  negro 
industrial  schools,  and  North  and  South  alike  are  in- 
debted to  the  educational  sense  and  sanity  which,  under 
the  wise  leadership  of  General  Armstrong,  spread  from 
Hampton  as  a  center.  The  Peabody  Fund  for  the  South 
($3,100,000),  the  Slater  Fund  ($1,000,000),  and  many 
other  benefactions  were  hastened  and  directed  into  right 
channels  by  the  trail  blazed  by  the  Freedmen's  Bureau. 

1  Howard  University  has  continued  to  draw  support  from  the  Federal 
Treasury,  the  appropriation  by  Congress  for  1915-1916  being  $101,000. 


86  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  Bureau  spent  $5,250,000  in  the  four  years  of  its 
existence,  and  all  of  it  came  from  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States.  By  1869,  however,  the  Peabody  Fund 
was  operative,  the  work  of  the  churches  was  well 
organized,  and  the  South  itself  had  begun  to  establish 
schools,  spurred  on,  perhaps,  by  a  conviction  that,  if 
it  did  not  do  so,  the  Federal  Government  would.  In 
any  case,  the  Bureau  was  discontinued  and  the  work  of 
building  up  a  free  public  school  system  was  begun  in 
earnest  by  the  reconstructed  states. 

B.    THE   BUREAU   OF   EDUCATION 

Although  the  Nation,  as  such,  has  had  no  control 
over  education  in  the  several  states,  it  has  not  been 
entirely  remiss  to  the  obligations  that  opportunity  so 
clearly  implies.  The  need  for  a  central  agency  to  collect 
and  disseminate  statistics  and  information  regarding 
education  in  the  different  states  began  to  be  felt  just 
as  soon  as  the  national  consciousness  sensed  the  fact 
that  universal  education  was  a  condition  precedent 
to  the  realization  of  its  ideals.  Such  an  agency  was 
talked  of  in  the  later  'forties  and  early  'fifties,  but  the 
Civil  War  delayed  its  establishment.  When  the  war 
was  over,  the  need  -was  accentuated  by  the  almost 
universal  ignorance  about  educational  conditions  in  the 
South.  How  to  meet  this  need  was  a  problem  that  had 
a  prominent  place  on  the  programs  of  the  National 
Education   Association  in  1864,  1865,  and    1866.      At 


SPECIFIC   NATIONAL   EDUCATIONAL   ACTS  87 

the  meeting  in  1867,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  me- 
morialize Congress  on  the  subject.  Of  this  committee, 
State  Commissioner  Emerson  E.  White,  of  Ohio,  was 
chairman.  The  memorial  was  presented  to  the  House 
of  Representatives  by  James  A.  Garfield.1  The  bill 
creating  a  Department  of  Education  was  approved 
March  2,  1867.  The  committee  had  asked  for  a  Bureau, 
but  the  House  made  it  a  Department.  The  Depart- 
ment was  established,  as  stated  in  the  act,  "for  the  pur- 
pose of  collecting  such  statistics  and  facts  as  shall  show 
the  condition  and  progress  of  education  in  the  several 
states  and  territories,  and  of  diffusing  such  information 
respecting  the  organization  and  management  of  schools 
and  school  systems,  and  methods  of  teaching,  as  shall 
aid  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  establishment 
and  maintenance  of  efficient  school  systems,  and  other- 
wise promote  the  cause  of  education  throughout  the 
country." 

As  a  Department,  this  new  agency  of  the  government 
had  a  short  life.  The  appropriation  bill  of  July  20, 
1868,  declared  that  "the  department  of  education  shall 
cease"  "from  and  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  June, 
1869."  In  its  stead,  the  Bureau  was  created  and 
attached  to  the  Department  of  the  Interior.  The  salary 
of  the  Commissioner  was  reduced  to  $3000  a  year  and 
the  total  appropriation  cut  from  $9400  to  $5400  a  year. 

1  Data  relative  to  this  matter,  including  the  speech  of  James  A. 
Garfield,  are  found  in  the  U.  S.  Com.  Edn.  Report,  1901,  pp.  414-38. 


88  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  infant  was  almost  strangled  while  a-borning,  and 
it  is  small  wonder  that  it  has  always  been  puny. 

The  Bureau  of  Education  has  endeavored  to  do  the 
best  that  it  could  with  its  available  funds  and  oppor- 
tunities. Generally  speaking,  it  has  had  to  depend 
entirely  upon  voluntary  cooperation  as  regards  educa- 
tional statistics  —  and  everything  else.  Its  publications 
have  been  timely  and  helpful.  The  annual  reports  con- 
tain invaluable  material  not  elsewhere  available.  But, 
after  saying  all  that  can  truthfully  be  said  of  its  work  as 
a  Bureau,  it  has  failed  to  develop  that  leadership  which 
education  in  a  great  democracy  needs  —  perhaps  beyond 
all  other  types  of  leadership.  Prestige  and  influence  in 
other  types  of  governmental  enterprise  come  naturally 
and  inevitably;  with  our  Federal  plan,  a  national 
leadership  in  education  has  never  come.  The  states 
long  since  learned  this,  and  each  of  them  now  has,  in 
the  state  government,  an  executive  officer  or  department 
whose  chief  business,  no  matter  what  words  the  law 
may  employ,  is  educational  leadership.  In  a  democratic 
state,  the  compelling  power  should  be  the  ideals  of  the 
people.  The  function  of  leadership  is  to  inspire  ideals, 
—  to  make  articulate  and  vocal  the  unformulated  but 
deeply  felt  wishes  and  aspirations  of  the  people,  —  to  set 
up  and  exemplify  those  standards  of  worth  which  the 
people  will  recognize  as  their  own  and  which  they  will, 
by  collective  action,  make  real. 

We  do  not  value  very  highly  a  position  that  is  without 


SPECIFIC  NATIONAL  EDUCATIONAL  ACTS  89 

prestige.  A  little  Bureau  in  a  big  Department  cannot 
have  prestige.  Without  prestige,  influence  is  lacking; 
and  without  influence,  leadership  is  impossible.  And 
this  —  plain,  honest  work  within  a  narrow  field,  ham- 
pered and  repressed  by  beggarly  appropriations,  and 
very  little  influence  upon  education  —  has  been  the 
history  of  the  Bureau  of  Education.  The  total  appro- 
priations for  educational  purposes  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment for  the  year  ending  June  30,  191 8,  amounted  to 
one  hundred  sixty  million  dollars ;  of  this  total  the 
Bureau  of  Education  received  $481,800,  or  less  than  one 
third  of  one  per  cent!  Or,  if  we  take  some  other  govern- 
mental agencies  for  comparison,  we  shall  get  a  relative 
idea  of  the  importance  attached  by  Congress  to  the 
Bureau  of  Education.  The  Civil  Service  Commission 
receives  almost  as  much  money  as  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion. The  Library  of  Congress  receives  one  and  a  half 
times  as  much.  There  is  appropriated  by  Congress  for 
the  janitors  in  the  public  schools  of  Washington  alone, 
three  fourths  as  much  as  the  Bureau  of  Education  is 
given.  The  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  has  seven  times  as  much  as  the 
Bureau  of  Education,  while  the  Bureau  of  Entomology 
has  twice  as  much. 

Furthermore,  in  order  to  get  the  proper  ratio  for 
revising  the  comparisons  just  made,  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  over  one  half  of  all  that  is  appropriated 
to  the  Bureau  of  Education  ($267,000)  is  specifically 


90  THE  NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

appropriated  for  education  in  Alaska.  The  Bureau  of 
Education  has  $75,200  for  salaries;  the  Civil  Service 
Commission  has  $340,000 ;  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry 
has  $440,000;   and  West  Point  alone  has  $983,602. 

Control  of  education  by  the  Federal  Government  is 
as  undesirable  as  it  is  impossible;  but  if  the  Federal 
Government  really  wishes  to  promote  education,  its  first 
step  forward  might  well  be  to  elevate  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation to  its  appropriate  status  as  an  executive  depart- 
ment of  the  Federal  Government. 

C.    PURELY   NATIONAL   SCHOOLS 

On  its  own  private  account,  so  to  speak,  the  Federal 
Government  has  been  in  the  educational  business  for  a 
long  time  for  it  has  had  its  own  wards  to  look  out  for, 
and,  in  some  cases,  its  own  servants  to  train.  Through 
a  long  series  of  blunders,  the  tragedies  of  which  need  not 
concern  us  here,  it  has  developed  fairly  effective  plans 
and  policies  for  the  education  of  the  Indians.  For  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1918,  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs 
in  the  Department  of  the  Interior  was  given  $9,565,800, 
to  be  spent  under  Federal  control  for  the  education  of 
Indians. 

Congress  has  also  been  under  the  necessity  of  edu- 
cating, under  its  own  management  and  direction,  officers 
for  the  Army  and  the  Navy.  Washington  urged  a 
national  school  that  would  insure  "an  adequate  stock 
of  military  knowledge,"  and  his  wishes  were  realized 


SPECIFIC  NATIONAL  EDUCATIONAL  ACTS  9 1 

with  the  organization  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point  in  1802.  The  institution  was  not  very  successful 
at  first,  but  after  the  War  of  181 2  its  curriculum  was 
revised  and  an  excellent  system  of  discipline  established. 
In  one  way,  it  remained  "close  to  the  people"  ;  in  order 
to  be  admitted,  the  candidate  was  required  only  to  be 
"well  versed  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,"  and 
to  be  physically  fit;  but  the  selection  was  practically 
upon  the  basis  of  political  patronage,  for  the  candidates 
for  examinations  were  appointed  by  members  of  Con- 
gress. The  admission  requirements  have  been  advanced 
in  recent  years.  Its  purpose  has  always  been  "to  train 
young  men  to  arrange  squadrons  for  the  hardy  fight"; 
and  in  spite  of  its  aristocratic  tendencies  and  traditions, 
its  success  as  a  school  is  unquestioned. 

In  1913,  Congress  appropriated  $1,246,159.97  for 
military  training  in  its  own  institutions.  These  insti- 
tutions, in  addition  to  West  Point,  are :  the  Army  War 
College  and  the  Army  Engineer  School,  in  Washington ; 
the  Coast  Artillery  School,  Fort  Monroe;  officers' 
schools,  at  various  military  posts ;  and  the  service 
schools  at  Forts  Sill,  Riley,  and  Leavenworth.  Facilities 
for  military  training  expanded  greatly  during  the  recent 
World  War,  and  will  doubtless  decrease  rapidly  at  first, 
then  more  slowly  for  a  long  period,  eventually  going 
back  to  the  level  which  is  considered  safe  from  a  national 
point  of  view.  It  is  also  quite  probable  that  the  mili- 
tary   training   required   by    the   act    of    1862    in   the 


92  THE   NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

land-grant  colleges  will,  for  many  years,  be  expanded 
and  intensified. 

The  Department  of  the  Navy  was  established  in  1798. 
In  harmony  with  the  old  English  system,  the  ship's 
chaplain  served  as  schoolmaster.  About  1813,  in- 
structors were  placed  on  ships.  Soon  afterward,  in- 
structors were  assigned  to  the  Navy  Yards  at  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Norfolk.  Chauvenet,  the  mathema- 
tician, was  in  charge  of  the  instructors  at  Philadel- 
phia. He  conceived  the  idea  of  founding  a  school  for 
naval  training.  It  was  not  until  1845,  however,  that  his 
idea  was  realized,  through  the  efforts  of  George  Ban- 
croft, then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  by  the  establishment 
of  the  United  States  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis. 
This  provided  only  for  the  training  of  officers.  After 
the  lapse  of  fifty  years,  Naval  Training  Stations  for  the 
enlisted  personnel  were  established. 

An  idea  of  the  cost  of  naval  training  in  peace  times 
may  be  obtained  from  the  appropriations  made  in  1913. 
The  Naval  Academy  received  $586,150;  the  four  Naval 
Training  Stations  —  California,  Rhode  Island,  Great 
Lakes,  and  Saint  Helena — received  $278,457  ;  the  Naval 
War  College  (Rhode  Island)  received  $28,500,  —  a 
total  of  $893,457.  For  1918,  these  appropriations  were 
more  than  doubled  and  additional  facilities  were  pro- 
vided. 

The  United  States  Government,  through  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  provides  for  the  training  of  student  inter- 


SPECIFIC  NATIONAL  EDUCATIONAL  ACTS  93 

preters  at  our  embassies  in  China,  Japan,  and  Turkey. 
It  also  contributes  liberally  toward  the  support  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  and  makes  arrangements  by 
which  its  vast  collections  and  libraries  are  placed  at  the 
service  of  investigators.  Congress,  also,  controls  educa- 
tion in  the  District  of  Columbia,  Alaska,  Porto  Rico, 
the  Philippines,  and  Hawaii. 


CHAPTER  X 

Federal  Grants  for  Vocational  Education 

The  Industrial  Movement,  already  mentioned  as 
becoming  active  in  the  early  fifties  and  again  after  the 
Civil  War,  has  been  intensified  and  given  a  new  direc- 
tion by  the  developments  of  the  past  half  century.  The 
land-grant  colleges,  while  they  have  done  a  superb 
work,  never  fully  satisfied  the  ideals  of  the  Industrial 
Movement,  for  their  efforts  were  largely  limited  to  the 
relatively  small  group  of  students  competent  to  pursue 
studies  of  collegiate  grade.  The  land-grant  colleges  and 
the  experimental  stations  did  something  to  bring  to  the 
practical  farmer  the  results  of  modern  scientific  research 
in  agriculture.  In  fact,  it  was,  in  part,  the  clear  and 
unmistakable  demonstration  of  practical  values  that 
led  successive  legislatures  in  the  several  states  to  make 
generous  appropriations  for  the  support  of  these  schools. 
But  while  no  one  has  ever  criticized  these  colleges  with 
any  measure  of  justification,  it  is  true  that  there  have 
been  many  needs  and  longings  which  they  have  not 
satisfied. 

The  Centennial  Exhibition  in  1876,  too,  revealed  the 
backwardness  of  the  country  in  respect  to  vocational 
education  on  the  elementary  and  secondary  levels,  and 

94 


FEDERAL  GRANTS  FOR  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION   95 

led  to  the  establishment  of  courses  in  manual  training 
in  public  schools,  the  organization  of  trade  schools, 
and  a  new  emphasis  upon  "practical"  instruction. 
The  great  private  correspondence  schools  have  been 
nourished  and  supported  by  the  longings  of  those  who 
would  be  adherents  of  the  Industrial  Movement  if  only 
they  knew  that  there  were  such  a  thing.  The  success 
of  these  enterprises  and  that  of  private  benefactions  such 
as  Cooper  Union,  and  the  popularity  of  university  exten- 
sion work  are  proof  conclusive  of  the  fundamental 
aspiration  of  the  worker  to  better  his  condition. 

Contributing  to  the  demand  for  "practical"  education 
has  been  the  vast  expansion  and  differentiation  of  the 
industrial  processes.  These  require  of  the  workman  a 
highly  developed  intelligence  within  a  narrow  field. 
For  example  :  while  anyone  with  the  necessary  physical 
strength  can  fill  a  blast  furnace  with  kindling,  coke, 
limestone,  and  pig  iron,  someone  must  know  the  pro- 
portions and  sequence  of  these  ingredients.  This 
knowledge  was  originally  gained  by  "trial  and  error" 
and  formulated  in  empirical  rules.  Within  the  past 
half  century,  however,  science,  through  careful  experi- 
mentation, has  worked  out  accurate  formulae,  and  has 
furnished  explanations  as  well  as  rules.  From  the 
making  of  soap  and  the  baking  of  bread  to  the  manu- 
facture of  steel  girders,  the  industrial  processes  have  been 
refined  and  perfected  to  the  point  where  each  is  a  dis- 
tinct field  of  highly  specialized  skill  and  highly  technical 


_r 


96  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

knowledge.  A  man  may  be  a  very  successful  soap 
maker  without  knowing  enough  about  the  blast  fur- 
nace to  make  even  a  respectable  failure  at  operating  it. 

With  a  sufficient  number  of  high-grade  men  to  direct 
the  industries,  the  actual  physical  work  might  be  done 
by  men  who  know  very  little.  One  of  the  tendencies 
of  modern  industry,  indeed,  is  to  keep  a  maximum 
number  of  low-grade  employes  at  work  under  a  minimum 
of  expert  guidance.  When  the  particular  industry  is 
"slack,"  the  low-grade  workmen  have  no  employment 
and,  consequently,  no  wage.  The  social  consequences 
are  disastrous.  Even  if  industry  could  be  continuously 
prosperous,  its  human  employes  would  still  have  a 
human  life  to  live,  a  human  destiny  to  work  out,  and 
community,  state,  and  national  obligations  to  dis- 
charge. The  problem  can  never,  from  any  angle,  be 
one  of  dividends  merely  or  chiefly.  The  individual  is 
more  than  a  cog  in  the  industrial  machine ;  the  Nation 
is  more  than  a  mere  aggregate  of  producers,  —  basic  as 
production  is  in  social  life. 

Many  boys  and  girls  leave  school  at  a  very  early  age 
to  enter  upon  all  sorts  of  occupations.  These  boys  and 
girls  are  not  skilled  workers ;  they  are  merely  hands  and 
feet  to  fetch  and  carry ;  —  and,  unless  they  are  kept 
mentally  alive  by  something  outside  their  routine  work, 
they  may  mature  physically  into  manhood  and  woman- 
hood only  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  family  and 
community  life  with  the  mental  equipment  and  ideals 


FEDERAL  GRANTS  FOR  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION    97 

of  childhood  or,  at  best,  of  early  adolescence.  They 
are  the  most  tragic  examples  of  "arrested  develop- 
ment," for  mental  starvation  during  adolescence  con- 
demns them  throughout  life  to  a  relatively  low  grade 
of  skill.  From  the  individual,  economic,  and  social 
points  of  view  it  is  imperative  to  keep  these  young 
people  growing  mentally. 

A  combination  of  statesmanship,  philanthropy,  and 
good  "  business  sense  "  has  fortunately  resulted  in  the 
organization  within  the  United  States  of  a  vast  machinery 
for  vocational  education  that  aims  to  solve  this  problem. 
The  embodiment  of  this  plan  is  known  as  the  Smith- 
Hughes  Act,  approved  February,  191 7.  As  a  bill  in 
Congress,  this  act  was  very  carefully  considered  by  the 
education  committees  of  Congress  and  by  a  special 
commission  expressly  created  to  study  it.  It  involves 
many  new  features,  some  of  which  are  to  prevent  abuses 
that  have  attended  other  forms  of  Federal  subsidies 
and  some  of  which  are  theoretical  ventures  in  the  field 
of  "grants  in  aid"  of  education.  The  main  features  of 
the  Smith-Hughes  Act  are  set  forth  below  without 
comment : 

1.  The  act  creates  a  Federal  Board  for  Vocational 
Education  whose  function  it  is  "to  make  or  cause  to 
have  made  studies,  investigations,  and  reports,  with 
particular  reference  to  their  use  in  aiding  the  States  in 
the  establishment  of  vocational  schools  and  classes  and 
in  giving  instruction  in  agriculture,  trades,  and  indus- 

H 


98  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

tries,  commerce  and  commercial  pursuits,  and  home 
economies" ;  "to  cooperate  with  State  Boards  in  carry- 
ing out  the  provisions  of  the  Act";  and  "to  cooperate 
with  the  Departments  of  Agriculture,  Labor,  and  Com- 
merce and  the  Bureau  of  Education  in  making  studies 
and  investigations."  The  Federal  Board  employs  a 
Director,  who  is  the  Executive  Officer  of  the  Board, 
and,  on  his  nomination,  elects  assistants  for  the  direction 
of  certain  lines  of  work,  such  as  agriculture,  domestic 
science,  industry,  etc. 

2.  The  Federal  Board  is  given  $200,000  annually  to 
meet  the  cost  of  administering  the  Act. 

3.  Increasing  funds  are  set  aside  for  specific  purposes 
which  at  their  maxima  are  as  follows : 

o.  For  the  preparation  of  teachers  of  vocational  subjects, 
$1,000,000,  allotted  to  the  states  on  basis  of  population. 

b.  $3,000,000  for  teaching  agriculture  in  schools  of  less  than 

college  grade,  and  allotted  to  the  states  on  the  basis  of 
rural  population. 

c.  $3,000,000  for  teaching  trades  and  industries  allotted  to 

the  states  on  the  urban  population  basis. 

4.  These  allotments  are  conditional  upon  the  agree- 
ment of  each  cooperating  state  to  match  its  Federal 
allotment  dollar  for  dollar. 

5.  "The  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education 
shall  annually  ascertain  whether  the  States  are  using 
or  are  prepared  to  use  the  moneys  received  by  them 
in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  Act." 


FEDERAL  GRANTS  FOR  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION    99 

6.  The  Federal  Board  is  empowered  to  "withhold  the 
allotment  of  moneys  to  any  state  whenever  it  shall 
appear  that  such  moneys  are  not  being  expended  for 
the  purposes  and  under  the  conditions  of  this  Act."  The 
state,  in  such  a  case,  may  appeal  to  Congress,  and  upon 
the  express  direction  of  Congress  the  state  may  receive 
the  allotment  that  has  been  temporarily  withheld  by 
the  Federal  Board. 

7.  The  state  must  guarantee  the  Government  against 
loss  of  funds  allotted  "by  any  action  or  contingency." 
The  state  must  also  agree  to  use  moneys  received  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Act  solely  for  operating  expenses,  — 
that  is,  for  teaching,  supervision,  and  administration. 

8.  The  states  must  report  annually  to  the  Federal 
Board. 

9.  The  Federal  Board  must  approve  the  action  of 
the  State  Board  in  setting  up  minimum  qualifications  of 
teachers  in  agriculture,  trades  and  industries,  and  home 
economics. 

The  total  maximum  appropriation  provided  in  the 
act  is  $7,200,000  annually. 

The  features  of  the  act  that  set  new  precedents  in 
Federal  aid  to  education  are : 

A.  The  Federal  Board,  which  is  set  up  separately 
from  any  existing  agency  of  the  government  and  which 
is,  consequently,  directly  responsible  to  Congress. 

B.  The  allotment  on  the  basis  of  apparent  need. 

C.  The  requirement  that  the  states  must  spend,  for 


IOO  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

a  specific  purpose,   at  least  as  much  as  the  Federal 
Government  allots  to  the  state  for  that  purpose. 

D.  The  approval  of  a  state's  plans  for  vocational 
education  by  the  Federal  Board,  and  the  making  of 
this  approval  a  condition  of  allotment. 

E.  The  right  given  the  Federal  Board  to  ascertain 
annually  just  what  has  been  done  in  a  state  and  how  the 
money  has  been  spent. 

These  new  features  safeguard  the  interests  of  the 
Nation  as  a  whole  as  has  never  been  done  before  by 
any  grant  of  land  or  money  for  educational  purposes. 
Whether  the  plan  is  too  highly  centralized  and  whether 
the  Federal  Board  will  infringe  upon  the  "autonomy 
of  the  States"  are  matters  which  the  wise  years  will 
reveal. 


CHAPTER   XI 

The  Principles  Embodied  in  the  Educational  Acts 
of  Congress 

By  way  of  summary,  it  will  be  profitable  to  state  the 
principles  embodied  or  implied  in  the  educational  acts 
of  Congress  that  have  been  already  considered. 

(i)  The  right  of  the  Federal  Government  to  encourage 
the  establishment  of  public  schools,  or  common  schools, 
by  grants  of  land  has  been  clearly  established.  The 
action  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1785  with  respect 
to  Lot  No.  16  in  the  Northwest  Territory  is  conclusive 
evidence  of  this  right  especially  in  view  of  the  long 
record  of  subsequent  acts  of  Congress  in  harmony  with 
the  declaration  of  the  act  of  1785  and  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  no  action  even  remotely  suggesting  the  invalid- 
ity of  this  Federal  policy  has  ever  been  brought  before 
the  Supreme  Court.  Congress  has  given  lands  for  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  common  schools  to 
colonization  companies,  such  as  the  Ohio  Company  and 
the  Symmes  Company ;  to  townships  as  in  some  of  the 
earlier  states,  notably  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois ;  and 
later  to  states.  Not  only  has  the  Federal  Government 
established  the  right  to  give  lands  for  the  maintenance 
of  common  schools,  but  it  has  given  money  in  lieu  of 

IOI 


102  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

land.  This  was  done  in  Oklahoma  when  the  state  of 
Oklahoma  was  given  $5,000,000  in  lieu  of  the  sixteenth 
section  lands,  the  title  to  which  was  vested  in  the  Indians. 
Congress  has  done  the  same  with  respect  to  North 
Dakota  where  a  few  years  ago  it  voted  $180,000  to  the 
state  in  lieu  of  lands  that  were  covered  by  individual 
Indian  titles. 

(2)  The  Federal  Government  has  established  its  right 
to  encourage  the  development  of  colleges  and  univer- 
sities by  land  grants.  This  has  been  done  repeatedly. 
The  first  form  of  grant  was  the  traditional  "two  town- 
ships" which  started  with  the  grant  to  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany and  which  was  followed  by  a  grant  of  one  township 
to  the  Symmes  Company.  Later  came  salt  lands, 
internal  improvement  lands,  swamp  lands,  and  finally, 
crowning  all  of  them,  lands  for  the  endowment  of 
colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts.  The  Federal 
Government  also  has  established  its  right  to  give 
money  as  well  as  lands  for  the  maintenance  and  en- 
dowment of  colleges,  —  witness  the  Hatch  Act  of 
1887,  the  second  Morrill  Act  of  1890,  the  later  Nelson 
Act,  and  the  Adams  Act  increasing  the  second  Morrill 
allowance  to  an  annual  maximum  of  $80,000  for  each 
state.  This  is  a  continuing  annual  subsidy  for  the 
"further  endowment  and  maintenance"  of  the  land- 
grant  colleges. 

(3)  Congress  has  established  its  right  to  enter  into 
cooperative  arrangements  with  the  states  for  specific 


THE   PRINCIPLES   EMBODIED   IN  ACTS   OF   CONGRESS       IO3 

educational  purposes.  This  is  clearly  shown  in  the 
preceding  acts,  especially  those  relative  to  the  colleges 
of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts  and  the  experiment 
stations.  It  is  also  shown  in  the  Smith-Hughes  Act 
in  which  a  very  definite  and  specific  contractual  relation 
has  been  undertaken,  —  even  to  the  point  of  making  the 
state  agree  to  match  dollar  for  dollar  its  allotment  for 
each  specific  purpose. 

(4)  The  Federal  Government  has  established  its  right 
to  encourage  all  kinds  of  educational  and  welfare  work. 
In  addition  to  what  has  already  been  particularly 
described  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  book,  Con- 
gress has  established  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
the  States'  Relation  Service,  and  in  the  Department  of 
Labor  the  Children's  Bureau.  It  has  also  organized 
in  the  Treasury  Department  a  Public  Health  Service 
the  functions  of  which  are  largely  educational.  Under 
the  States'  Relation  Service  school  gardening  has  been 
organized  on  an  elaborate  scale  and  various  other  types 
of  educational  activities,  small  and  large,  are  encouraged 
by  the  leadership  of  its  employes,  and  often  by  the 
stimulus  of  expenditures  on  the  part  of  the  Government. 
It  has  also  been  spending,  through  the  Department 
of  the  Interior,  small  sums  of  money  for  the  Ameri- 
canization of  foreigners  and  it  has  been  spending  even 
more  in  giving  publicity  to  this  great  educational  need. 

(5)  Congress  has  established  its  right  to  set  aside 
money  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  under  conditions 


104  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

satisfactory  to  itself.  This  is  shown  in  the  Smith- 
Hughes  Act  where  $1,000,000  annually  is  appropriated 
for  the  training  of  teachers  of  vocational  subjects,  and 
also  in  the  Adams  Act  which  provides  that  a  part  of  the 
money  given  to  the  land-grant  colleges  may  be  spent 
for  the  preparation  of  teachers.  If  it  has  the  right  to 
prepare  teachers  for  certain  limited  fields  of  teaching, 
it  has  the  right  to  prepare  teachers  for  general  fields  of 
teaching. 

(6)  Congress  has  established  its  right  to  spend  money 
for  the  collection  and  dissemination  of  information 
regarding  education  at  home  and  abroad.  This  is 
shown  through  the  activities  and  publications  of  the 
Bureau  of  Education.  The  different  educational  pro- 
posals that  the  Bureau  is  able  to  put  before  the  general 
educational  public  by  use  of  funds  provided  by  Congress 
clearly  show  that  Congress  has  established  the  right 
to  spend  money  for  educational  publicity.  Closely 
associated  with  this  is  the  evident  right  of  Congress  to 
appropriate  money  for  the  carrying  on  of  research  work 
as  is  done  so  extensively  through  the  agricultural 
experiment  stations,  the  various  research  bureaus  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  the  Library  of  Congress, 
and  the  National  Research  Council.  The  Federal 
Government  is  to-day  the  largest  single  employer  of 
research  scientists  in  the  world. 

(7)  Congress  has  exercised  its  unquestioned  right  to 


THE   PRINCIPLES   EMBODIED   IN  ACTS   OF   CONGRESS      105 

set  up  schools  for  the  attainment  of  its  own  specific 
educational  ends.  West  Point,  Annapolis,  the  War 
College,  the  Naval  College,  the  Service  Stations,  schools 
at  Army  posts,  and  Naval  training  stations,  all  clearly 
prove  this.  It  already  has  a  special  school  for  training 
medical  officers  for  the  Army ;  it  could  set  up  schools  for 
the  training  of  its  consular  personnel  if  it  so  desired,  for 
the  training  of  attaches  in  its  diplomatic  service,  for 
the  training  of  teachers  to  serve  in  its  own  schools. 
There  is  practically  no  limit  to  such  educational  activi- 
ties; the  field  is  as  wide  as  the  Government  service 
itself. 

(8)  Congress  has  established  and  exercised  its  right 
to  provide  for  the  education  of  Indians  and  for  the 
education  of  people  in  its  territories  and  outlying 
possessions.  It  is  now  spending  something  over 
$9,000,000  annually  on  the  education  of  Indians.  It  is 
spending  money  for  public  schools  in  the  Territory  of 
Alaska,  and  it  has  previously  spent  money  for  the 
education  of  people  in  practically  every  territory  that 
has  been  established.  It  also  established  and  exercised 
its  authority  to  provide  for  the  education  of  negroes 
immediately  following  the  Civil  War  as  shown  by  the 
work  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau. 

These  precedents,  undisturbed  by  a  single  adverse 
court  decision,  prove  that  it  is  constitutional  for  the 
Federal  Government  to  promote  education  in  a  variety 
of  ways.     It  has  been  promoting  education  ever  since 


106  THE    NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

1785.  Not  a  session  of  Congress  closes  without  the 
passage  of  acts  designed  to  promote  education.  To  be 
sure,  these  acts  are  for  the  most  part  in  harmony  with 
precedents  already  established,  but  new  precedents  are 
constantly  being  set.  On  the  other  hand,  for  Congress 
to  attempt  to  usurp  the  sovereign  right  of  each  state 
to  organize,  supervise,  and  administer  education  within 
its  own  borders  and  specifically  and  directly  for  the 
state's  own  citizens  would  clearly  be  unconstitutional. 
It  is,  indeed,  unthinkable.  Congress  has  never  at- 
tempted to  do  this.  It  has  never  been  advised  or 
memorialized  by  educational  leaders  to  attempt  it. 
No  one  desires  this  sort  of  thing  to  be  done ;  but  there 
are  many  who  feel  that  the  cooperative  relationships 
already  established,  already  justified  by  their  results, 
should  be  extended  to  include  educational  needs  and 
activities  even  more  important  to  the  welfare  of  the 
Nation  than  those  with  which  the  Government  has 
hitherto  concerned  itself.  If  Federal  cooperation  in 
education  can  work  the  miracles  which  now  stand  to  its 
credit,  and  if  it  can  do  this  without  invading  in  any 
respect  the  rights  of  the  states,  it  can  work  other 
sadly  needed  miracles  with  the  same  efficiency  and  the 
same  freedom  from  danger. 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  National  Education  Association  and  Federal 

Aid 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Education 
Association  in  1873  was  held  at  Elmira,  New  York. 
The  main  topic  of  interest  was  Federal  aid  to  education. 
Dr.  McCosh,  then  president  of  Princeton,  gave  a  long 
address  on  "Upper  Schools"  in  the  course  of  which  he 
clearly  revealed  the  attitude  of  the  older,  endowed 
colleges  toward  the  new  land-grant  colleges.  He  said, 
in  part : 

"What  should  be  done  with  those  ninety  millions  worth  of 
unappropriated  land  belonging  to  the  general  government?  We 
all  know  that  a  proposal  was  made  in  the  last  session  of  Congress 
to  devote  the  whole  or  the  half  of  the  sum  to  be  realized  by  the 
sale  of  those  lands  to  what  were  called  agricultural  schools.  The 
agricultural  schools  and  schools  of  science  which  expected  to 
receive  a  share  of  the  funds  were  employed  for  months  in  pre- 
paring and  promoting  this  measure.  Members  of  the  Senate  and 
of  the  House  were  anxious  to  be  able  to  go  back  to  their  con- 
stituents with  the  assurance  that  they  brought  down  with  them 
to  their  state  half  a  million  of  money  or  $50,000  a  year.  Friends 
of  education  were  glad  to  get  the  sum  allocated  to  some  good 
educational  end,  were  it  only  to  prevent  it  from  being  wasted  in 

107  . 


108  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

political  jobbing.  But  some  of  us,  when  we  learned  that  such  a 
measure  was  quietly  passing  the  House  and  Senate,  courageously 
set  ourselves  against  the  allocation  of  so  large  a  sum  of  money  to 
so  narrow  and  so  sectional  a  purpose.  We  argued  that  so  far 
as  these  schools  were  simply  agricultural  ones,  they  were  not 
accomplishing  so  great  a  good  as  to  entitle  them  to  so  large  an 
endowment.  I  hold  very  resolutely  that,  before  so  large  a  sum 
be  lavished  on  them,  there  should  be  a  special  inquiry  into  what 
they  are  and  what  they  are  doing ;  into  the  number  of  bona  fide 
agricultural  pupils,  and  specially  as  to  the  number  of  those  trained 
who  have  thought  it  worth  their  while  to  turn  to  farming.  I  could 
show  that  in  no  country  in  the  world  has  agriculture  been  much 
benefited  by  mere  agricultural  schools. 

"Why  should  the  excellent  college  at  New  Brunswick  [Rutger's 
College]  and  managed  by  a  few  Dutchmen,  get  $50,000  a  year, 
and  Princeton  College,  with  its  new  school  of  Science,  receive 
nothing  ?  We  wish  nothing  in  Princeton  from  the  state  or  general 
government.  I  proclaim  this  publicly.  But  we  are  entitled  in 
this  country  to  a  fair  field  and  no  favor."  * 

After  quoting  at  length  from  John  Stuart  Mill,  Dr. 
McCosh  finally  proposed  that  the  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  public  lands  should  be  made  into  a  permanent  fund, 
and  that  the  interest  be  used  to  encourage  high  schools. 
In  the  Southern  states,  his  plan  would  permit  the  use  of 
one  half  of  the  state's  share  for  common  schools. 

The  address  of  Dr.  McCosh  was  given  in  the  evening 
and  the  discussion  continued  the  next  day.  President 
Eliot,  of  Harvard  College,  carried  the  argument  still 
further,  attacking  the  whole  policy  of  Federal  aid  for 
education.     He  said : 

1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1873,  pp.  32-33. 


THE    NATIONAL    EDUCATION    ASSOCIATION  109 

"Dr.  McCosh  proposed  that  ninety  million  dollars  public 
money  be  applied  for  upper  schools  in  the  North  and  for  upper  and 
elementary  schools  in  the  South.  Ninety  millions  would  be  only 
a  drop  in  the  bucket.  .  .  .  The  one  drop  is  a  drop  of  poison.  It 
demoralizes  us  and  weakens  the  foundation  of  our  liberty.  It 
interferes  with  the  carrying  out  of  our  destiny,  —  the  breeding  of 
a  race  of  independent  and  self-reliant  freemen.  I  hope  no  words 
will  go  out  from  this  Association  which  can  be  held  to  sanction, 
in  any  way  or  shape,  a  request  for  money  from  the  government 
for  education.  I  know  of  no  more  mischievous,  insidious  enemy 
to  a  free  republic  than  this  habit  of  asking  help  in  good  works 
which  we  ought  to  attend  to  ourselves." 

President  Eliot  also  had  a  word  to  say  regarding  the 
Congressional  situation : 

"It  was  to  me,  I  know  it  must  have  been  to  many  others,  a 
humiliating  spectacle  to  see,  last  winter,  in  the  halls  of  Congress, 
a  half-dozen  men,  representing  a  few  institutions  of  education, 
many  of  them  but  half-born,  vieing  for  a  share  in  the  public  gifts. 
I  was  thankful  to  President  McCosh  when  he  ventured  to  go 
before  Congress  and  protest  against  this  demoralizing  use  of  public 
money.  I  only  regret  that  it  was  left  to  a  gentleman  not  American 
to  discharge  that  public  duty."  * 

Mr.  G.  W.  Atherton,  one  of  the  "few  Dutchmen  at 
New  Brunswick,"  and  later  president  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College  of  Agriculture,  spoke  the  next  evening  on 
"The  Relation  of  the  General  Government  to  Educa- 
tion." After  covering  the  historical  ground  he  presented 
and  elaborated  five  propositions,  as  follows : 

1.  The  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  yet 
remaining  unappropriated  should  be  permanently  in- 
1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1873,  p.  44. 


HO  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

vested  by  the  United  States  Government,  as  they  accrue, 
and  set  apart  as  a  perpetual  endowment  for  the  support 
of  public  education ;  the  income  to  be  distributed  among 
the  states,  and  administered  by  them  according  to 
their  several  systems. 

2.  All  grants  of  land  to  corporations  should  cease. 
"From  1850  to  1873,  Congress  has  given  the  Pacific 
roads  alone  over  150,000,000  acres,  —  more  than  all 
it  has  ever  granted  to  all  educational  agencies." 

3.  A  portion  of  the  fund  thus  set  apart  for  education 
should  be  devoted  to  the  further  endowment  of  the 
national  scientific  schools,  commonly  called  agricultural 
colleges.  These  institutions  are  the  logical  and  fit 
completion  of  the  public  school  system.  They  are  the 
colleges  of  and  for  the  people. 

4.  The  Government  must  hold  the  states  to  an  account 
for  the  right  use  of  its  donations. 

5.  To  sum  up  all  in  a  word,  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment must  take  a  more  direct  and  active  interest  than 
it  has  hitherto  done  in  the  promotion  of  public  education.1 

After  all  this  discussion,  and  much  more  that  was  not 
recorded,  the  Association 

"Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Association,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  should  be,  hereafter,  set  apart 
by  Congress,  under  such  conditions  as  it  may  deem  wise,  as  a 
perpetual  fund  for  the  support  of  public  education  in  the  states 
and  territories."  2 

N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1873,  pp.  7°~73-  2Ibid.,  p.  92. 


THE    NATIONAL   EDUCATION    ASSOCIATION  III 

It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  note  that 
President  Eliot  at  this  meeting  gave  a  strong  report 
against  a  National  University,  —  a  project  which  the 
Association  had  indorsed  in  1869  and  concerning  which 
two  bills  had  been  introduced  in  Congress  in  1872,  one 
by  Senator  Howe,  of  Wisconsin,  on  March  25,  the  other 
by  Senator  Sawyer,  on  May  20.     He  said : 

"During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  we  got  accustomed  to  seeing 
the  government  spend  vast  sums  of  money  and  put  forth  vast 
efforts,  and  we  asked  ourselves,  Why  should  not  some  of  these 
great  resources  and  powers  be  applied  to  works  of  peace,  to  creation 
as  well  as  to  destruction  ?  So  we  subsidized  railroads  and  steam- 
ship companies,  and  agricultural  colleges,  and  now  it  is  proposed 
to  subsidize  a  university.  The  fatal  objection  to  this  subsidizing 
process  is  that  it  saps  the  foundations  of  public  liberty.  The  only 
adequate  securities  of  public  liberty  are  the  national  habits,  tradi- 
tions, and  character  acquired  and  accumulated  in  the  practice  of 
liberty  and  self-control."  1 

These  quotations  give  us  a  keen  insight  into  the 
educational  attitude  of  different  groups.  One  group 
wished  to  use  the  public  money  for  the  removal  of  illit- 
eracy and  the  development  of  the  public  schools. 
Another  wished  to  use  it  for  the  development  and 
possible  endowment  of  upper  schools  that  would  prepare 
for  college.  A  third  group  wished  to  use  all  of  the  fund 
for  "the  further  endowment  and  maintenance  of  the 
Colleges  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts."  President 
Eliot  and  his  followers  protested   against  any  use  of 

1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1873,  p.  119. 


112  THE   NATION  AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

Federal  money  for  education.  These  four  groups,  in 
Congress  and  outside,  had  long  and,  at  times,  acrimonious 
discussions. 

In  1875,  the  House  Committee  on  Education  and 
Labor  gave  the  land-grant  colleges  a  ''clean  bill  of 
health"  so  that  Dr.  McCosh  had  still  further  cause  for 
dissent.  In  1877,  Senator  Morrill  succeeded  Senator 
Sherman  as  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee. 
Senator  Blair  of  New  Hampshire  became  the  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Education.  Senator  Blair  was 
earnestly  and  persistently  interested  in  the  cause  of  the 
common  schools  and  sought  to  have  legislation  aiding 
them  passed.  All  of  his  efforts  failed,  but  they  came 
sufficiently  near  to  success  to  keep  the  idea  alive. 

The  National  Education  Association  reiterated  its 
Elmira  resolution  in  1874  and  in  1875.  At  the  latter 
meeting  a  committee  was  appointed  to  place  the  res- 
olution in  the  hands  of  each  member  of  Congress.     In 

1876,  the  idea  was  expanded  to  include  "common 
schools,  normal  education,  and  the  technical  and  indus- 
trial colleges"  established  under  the  act  of  1862.  A 
committee  of  one  from  each  state  and  territory  was  pro- 
vided "to  prepare  a  memorial  to  Congress  embodying 
the  views  herein  expressed,  and  urging  such  legislation 
as  shall  be  substantially  in  harmony  therewith."  l     In 

1877,  the  same  idea  is  reiterated.     In  1879,  the  Com- 

1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1876,  p.  58.  They  also  desired  an  expanded 
and  better  supported  Bureau  of  Education. 


THE    NATIONAL   EDUCATION    ASSOCIATION  113 

mittee  on  Publication  was  "instructed  to  place  a  copy 
in  pamphlet  form  of  so  much  of  Dr.  John  D.  Philb rick's 
paper  as  refers  to  the  Bureau  of  Education  on  the  desk 
of  each  Senator  and  Representative."  The  Association 
expressed  its  "gratification  at  the  recommendations  in 
favor  of  education  made  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  in  his  several  messages."  This  meeting  also 
declared  in  favor  of  the  creation  of  colleges  for  women 
in  each  state,  —  following  what  seemed  to  be  the  very 
successful  plan  upon  which  the  colleges  of  agriculture 
and  mechanic  arts  had  been  established.  The  Asso- 
ciation specifically  indorsed  House  Bill  No.  2059  en- 
titled, "A  bill  donating  lands  to  the  several  states  and 
territories  which  may  provide  colleges  for  the  education 
of  females."  This  bill  had  been  introduced  by  Roger 
Q.  Mills,  of  Texas,  and  a  resolution  looking  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  similar  bill  had  been  introduced  in  the  Senate 
by  John  T.  Morgan,  of  Alabama. 

In  1 88 1,  the  Association  had  settled  in  its  own  com- 
posite mind  that  the  fund,  already  many  times  men- 
tioned, should  be  distributed  for  the  first  ten  years  on 
the  basis  of  illiteracy  and  thereafter  on  the  basis  of  con- 
gressional representation.1  It  still  insisted  that  Congress 
should  set  aside  a  part  of  the  income  for  normal  schools, 
and  another  part  for  the  colleges  of  agriculture  and 
mechanic  arts.  A  committee  was  directed  to  present 
the  matter  to  Congress.     It  is  a  great  misfortune  that 

1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1S81,  p.  159. 

I 


114  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

these  various  committees  of  the  Association  did  not 
report.  The  meeting  of  1882  also  " resolved"  on  the 
subject,  —  and  ordered  its  resolution  sent  to  members 
of  Congress.  The  Department  of  Superintendence 
had  held  its  meeting  in  March  of  1882  in  Washington 
and  a  most  earnest  and  able  presentation  of  the  need  for 
Federal  aid  was  made  by  A.  D.  Mayo,  Dexter  A.  Haw- 
kins, and  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  the  agent  of  the  Peabody 
Fund.  One  sentence  deserves  a  place  in  every  discussion 
of  this  subject.     Dr.  Curry  said : 

"I  am  only  stating  a  truism  when  I  say  that  there  is  not  a 
single  instance  in  all  educational  history  where  there  has  been 
anything  approximating  universal  education  unless  that  education 
has  been  furnished  by  the  government."  * 

In  1884,  at  Madison,  Wisconsin,  the  Association 
favored  Federal  aid  to  education  in  the  South.  In  1885, 
the  resolution  became  elaborate  and  declared  Federal 
aid  necessary  "to  the  end  that  every  child  in  the  coun- 
try of  school  age  may  receive  a  good  common-school 
education  under  the  respective  systems  of  the  several 
states."  In  1886,  A.  E.  Winship,  of  Boston,  offered 
a  plan  for  holding  an  interstate  educational  convention 
to  be  called  by  the  governors  of  the  several  states  "to 
consider  the  various  interests  involved  in  the  question 
of  Federal  aid  to  education."  A  whereas  in  this  resolu- 
tion admits  that  "the  friends  of  education  in  Congress 

1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1882.  Dept.  of  Supt.,  pp.  44-60;  especially, 
for  the  quotation,  p.  56. 


THE    NATIONAL   EDUCATION   ASSOCIATION  115 

honestly  differ  in  their  estimate  of  the  wisdom  of  making 
the  appropriation  provided  for  by  the  various  bills 
now  before  that  body." 

In  1887,  Senator  Blair  appeared  before  the  Depart- 
ment of  Superintendence  of  the  National  Education 
Association  and  talked  freely  about  the  bill  he  had 
favored  in  Congress.  This  bill  appropriated  $77,000,000 
to  be  distributed  to  the  states,  on  the  basis  of  illit- 
eracy, through  a  series  of  years.  It  began  at  seven 
millions,  and  provided  in  successive  years  for  ten,  fifteen, 
thirteen,  eleven,  nine,  seven,  and  five  millions.  It  may 
be  noted  in  passing  that  the  distribution  of  the 
interest  on  the  public  land  sales  had  been  found  to 
be  too  small  to  accomplish  any  substantial  result ;  conse- 
quently all  advocates  of  Federal  aid  had  turned  to  a  lump 
sum  to  be  so  distributed  as  to  accomplish  a  definite 
and  worthy  result.  The  Blair  Bill  passed  the  Senate 
at  three  different  sessions  of  Congress,  — 1883-5  '■> 
1885-7  I  1887-9.  It  never  succeeded  in  passing  the 
House,  although  Senator  Blair  has  stated  that  it  had  the 
support  of  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  members.  There 
was  a  tangle  of  some  sort,  —  either  personal  or  political 
or  strategic,  —  that  prevented  it  from  coming  to  a  vote.1 

The  N.  E.  A.  repeated  its  indorsement  of  the  idea  in 
1887,   1888,  and   1889.     In  1890,  however,  it  realized 

1  See  Cubberley  and  Elliott's  Slate  and  County  School  Administration, 
pp.  104-107,  for  Senator  Blair's  statement.  It  is  also  found  in  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Education  Circular  of  Information,  No.  3,  1887. 


Il6  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

that  the  Hatch  Act  and  the  second  Morrill  Act  con- 
stituted a  first  mortgage  on  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  public  lands,  and  gracefully  resolved: 

"That  this  Association,  recognizing  the  value  of  the  educational 
work  performed  by  the  land-grant  colleges,  heartily  indorses  the 
movement  in  Congress  for  further  aid  of  these  institutions."  ! 

The  Association  remained  silent  on  Federal  aid 
until  1906,  when  it  indorsed  the  Burkett-Pollard  Bill 
which  was  designed  to  provide  Federal  aid  to  normal 
schools  to  prepare  teachers  of  agriculture  and  manual 
training  for  the  public  schools.  A  subsidy  similar  to 
that  of  the  Hatch  Act  was  contemplated.  It  may  be 
remarked,  parenthetically,  that  the  vocational  education 
movement  finally  inherited  the  Congressional  interest 
which  the  normal  schools  had  awakened  in  agriculture 
and  manual  training.  In  191 1,  the  Department  of 
Superintendence  said  in  its  resolutions:  "The  question 
of  the  extension  of  the  amount  and  character  of  Federal 
aid  given  to  education  is  assuming  great  importance  and 
demands  the  earnest  consideration  of  all  interested  in 
education."  In  191 2,  the  Association  indorsed  "the 
comprehensive  plan  now  before  Congress  for  increasing 
the  facilities  in  state  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic 
arts,  state  normal  schools,  and  elementary  schools  for 
training  in  agriculture,  domestic  economy,  and  other 
industrial  work  for  the  great  mass  of  our  people,  through 
the  public  schools  of  our  entire  country."  This  meant 
1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1890,  Resolutions. 


THE   NATIONAL   EDUCATION   ASSOCIATION  117 

support  for  the  predecessor  of  the  Smith-Hughes  Bill 
then  pending.  In  191 6,  the  Association  came  out 
squarely  and  explicitly  for  the  Smith-Hughes  Bill. 

This  brief  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  National 
Education  Association  clearly  indicates  that  the  men 
and  women  in  the  public-school  service  have  con- 
sistently advocated  Federal  aid  for  education,  —  always 
with  such  provisos  as  would  safeguard  the  rights  of  the 
states  to  organize,  supervise,  and  administer  their  own 
schools.  It  also  shows  that  a  stiff  undercurrent  of 
opposition  has  emanated  from  educational  leaders 
representing  the  endowed  colleges. 

This  opposition  still  persists,  although  it  is  less 
in  evidence  in  the  councils  of  the  Association  than  in 
former  years,  —  largely  because  the  Association  itself 
has  become  more  faithfully  representative  of  the  in- 
terests of  public  education  as  contrasted  with  private 
and  endowed  education. 

Another  ideal  that  has  already  been  mentioned  fre- 
quently recurs  in  the  papers  and  resolutions  of  the 
Association,  —  the  idea  of  a  national  university.  In 
1901,  this  idea  was  indorsed.  At  the  same  time  a  report 
on  the  subject  was  presented  to  the  National  Council 
on  Education  by  a  committee  that  had  given  long  and 
patient  study  to  the  subject.  President  Harper,  of  the 
University  of  Chicago,  was  chairman  of  the  committee.1 
In  1908,  a  report  was  made  for  the  Committee  by  Pres- 
1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1901,  pp.  457-474. 


Il8  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

ident  Charles  Van  Hise,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
House  Bill  No.  19,465  was  discussed,  the  principles  of 
the  bill  approved,  and  the  committee  continued.1  In 
191 2,  this  committee  was  enlarged  and  discussed  the 
matter  at  length.  In  191 5,  the  Department  of  Superin- 
tendence resolved:  "We  again  reaffirm  our  declaration 
in  favor  of  a  National  University  and  note  with  pleasure 
that  the  Fess  Bill  establishing  such  a  University  has  been 
favorably  reported  to  the  House  of  Representatives."  2 

The  N.  E.  A.  has  always  urged  the  cause  of  the  Bureau 
of  Education  because  of  the  benefits  which  have  come 
to  public  schools  and  to  teachers  through  its  reports 
and  bulletins.  It  has,  almost  without  ceasing,  asked 
Congress  to  give  the  Bureau  better  quarters,  more  equip- 
ment, and  more  money.  It  went  further.  In  1895, 
the  Department  of  Superintendence  said  in  its  reso- 
lutions: ''The  importance  of  public  education  in  this 
country  demands  its  [the  Bureau's]  recognition  as  a 
distinct  and  coordinate  department  of  the  executive 
branch  of  government." 3  This  has  been  substantially 
reaffirmed  in  1897,  m  I9°°'  m  I9°3J  m  z9o8>  m  I9IO> 
and  in  191 7,  with  some  commendatory  resolutions 
about  the  Bureau  and  a  plan  for  its  more  generous 
support  at  every  intervening  meeting. 

Many  other  national  legislative  measures  of  minor 
importance  have  been  advanced  for  consideration  and 

1  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1908,  p.  34-       2  ^id.,  1915.  P-  25°- 
1  Ibid.,  1895,  p.  217. 


THE    NATIONAL   EDUCATION   ASSOCIATION  119 

have  evoked  some  enthusiasm,  but  those  that  have  lived 
through  the  past  half  century  as  the  hope  of  educational 
leaders  are : 

1.  Federal  aid  as  a  means  of  stimulating  the  states 
to  an  extension  and  improvement  of  all  forms  of 
public  education.  This  has  been  accomplished  with  re- 
spect to  the  Industrial  Movement  by  the  acts  that  have 
given  endowment  and  maintenance  to  the  colleges  of 
agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  and  by  the  Smith-Hughes 
Act  for  vocational  education  "  of  less  than  college  grade." 
There  still  remain  the  important  fields  of  illiteracy,  Ameri- 
canization, the  equalization  of  educational  opportunities 
involving  particularly  the  improvement  of  the  rural 
schools,  physical  and  health  education,  and  —  last  but 
by  no  means  least  —  the  preparation  of  teachers.  These 
are  covered  by  the  bill  prepared  in  191 8  and  191 9  by  the 
Emergency  Commission  of  the  Association,  and  known 
in  the  Sixty-sixth  Congress  as  the  Smith-Towner  Bill. 

2.  The  expansion  of  the  functions  of  the  Bureau  of 
Education  into  a  real  department  of  the  government, 
after  the  pattern  set  by  the  Departments  of  Agriculture, 
Labor,  and  Commerce,  and  the  recognition  of  the  im- 
portance of  education  by  giving  it  a  voice  in  the  councils 
of  the  Nation. 

3.  The  establishment  of  a  National  University  which 
should  be  devoted  to  national  service  through  the  train- 
ing which  it  would  give  in  research  in  fields  that  are 
distinctly  national  in  scope  and  significance. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
What  the  War  Revealed 

Our  analysis  of  historical  material  has  prepared  us 
to  see  just  what  things  in  the  way  of  educational  defects 
would  come  to  the  surface  when  the  Nation  engaged  in 
a  great  war.  Notwithstanding  our  Federal  form  of 
government,  when  it  comes  to  the  matter  of  war  we  are 
as  homogeneous  as  any  nation  in  the  world,  for  Congress 
has  the  right  to  make  war  and  it  therefore  has  the  right 
to  conscript  men,  to  conscript  labor,  and  to  conscript 
wealth  to  carry  on  war. 

Whenever  a  nation  thus  strips  for  conflict  and  begins 
to  organize  all  of  its  resources  and  all  of  its  powers  for 
the  supreme  test  which  war  affords,  the  defects  in  its 
educational  policies  and  practices  are  clearly  revealed. 
We  are  all  aware  of  the  defects  which  England  found  in 
her  educational  system.  She  had  been  slow  to  adopt  a 
thoroughgoing  system  of  general  public  education.  In 
fact,  she  had  never  approached  it  until  1870,  and  while 
she  has  made  rapid  strides  since  that  time,  her  schools 
are  still  far  behind  those  of  many  other  European 
nations.  In  the  midst  of  a  most  distressing  conflict, 
England  found  it  necessary  to  reorganize  and  amplify 


WHAT  THE   WAR   REVEALED  121 

and  expand,  in  a  most  remarkable  way,  her  educational 
system. 

In  our  own  country,  the  educational  situation,  while 
better  in  many  ways  than  that  in  England,  was  still 
far  from  satisfactory.  One  thing  clearly  revealed  by  the 
war  was  the  high  per  cent  of  illiteracy  among  those 
summoned  by  the  first  draft.  Seven  hundred  thousand 
illiterates  were  subject  to  this  first  call;  two  hundred 
thousand  of  them  were  drawn  into  the  training  camps. 
These  men  could  not  make  good  soldiers  because  in  a 
modern  army  the  soldier  must  be  able  to  read  orders, 
he  must  be  able  to  read  signs  of  direction,  he  must  be 
able  to  read  the  printed  page  in  order  to  get  into  the 
spirit  and  animus  of  the  great  organization  of  which  he 
is  a  part.  Because  the  illiterate  recruits  actually  de- 
layed the  military  preparation,  the  Nation  for  the  first 
time  appreciated  the  real  meaning  of  illiteracy.  No  one 
will  now  deny  that  illiteracy  is  incompatible  with  our 
democracy.  The  long  years  of  patient  and  persistent 
effort  for  the  removal  of  illiteracy  through  the  stimulus 
of  national  aid  seemed  to  have  been  in  vain,  but  now  the 
facts,  which  every  person  engaged  in  education  knew  all 
the  time,  have  been  brought  forcibly  to  the  attention 
of  the  general  public.  No  nation  can  safely  permit  one 
in  thirteen  of  its  adult  population  to  be  unable  to  read 
the  printed  page. 

The  war  also  brought  into  high  relief  the  imperative 
need   of   "Americanizing"    the   immigrant  population. 


122  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

The  unprecedented  industrial  development  of  the  past 
quarter  century  was  far  from  an  unmixed  blessing,  and 
among  the  problems  to  which  it  has  given  rise  none  is 
more  serious  than  that  which  the  assimilation  of  the  alien 
workers  involves.  These  foreigners  have  been  drawn 
to  our  shores  by  the  economic  opportunity  which  the 
country  has  afforded.  They  have  been  admitted  and 
permitted  to  remain  in  accordance  with  laws  passed  by 
Congress.  They  have  been  permitted  to  seek  employ- 
ment wherever  they  could  find  it  and  to  move  freely 
from  one  state  to  another. 

Not  only  this,  but  a  very  large  proportion  of  those 
who  have  come  to  us  in  recent  years  are  from  European 
countries  in  which  educational  opportunities  have  been 
very  meagre.  They  have  been  illiterates  in  their  native 
lands;  unlike  the  earlier  immigrants  from  Northern 
Europe,  their  traditions  regarding  education  are  alien 
to  ours.  They  have  come  to  live  among  a  people 
whose  ideal?  are  strange  and  unappreciated.  Conse- 
quently they  have  flocked  in  groups  because  this  was 
the  only  way  in  which  they  could  have  communication 
with  human  kind.  They  have  not  resisted  American- 
ization ;  they  have  had  no  chance  for  it.  The  employer 
has  felt  that  his  responsibility  was  discharged  when  he 
paid  them  for  their  work.  It  was  not  conceived  to 
be  the  business  of  capital  to  see  that  these  people 
learned  to  read,  speak,  and  write  the  English  lan- 
guage, —  although  there   are  conspicuous   examples  of 


WHAT   THE   WAR   REVEALED  1 23 

corporations  that  have  voluntarily  assumed  this  responsi- 
bility. 

In  a  similar  way,  the  states  in  which  these  masses  of 
un-Americanized  foreigners  and  non-English-speaking 
aliens  congregated  have  felt  that,  in  as  much  as  the  new- 
comers might  not  stay  and  in  as  much  as  many  of  them 
were  beyond  the  legal  school  age,  the  state  as  such 
could  do  nothing  for  their  Americanization.  In  fact, 
we  have  suddenly  become  aware  that,  while  we  have 
been  setting  up  rules  and  regulations  in  accordance 
with  which  aliens  might  freely  enter  the  country,  we 
have  made  no  effort  to  have  them  identify  themselves 
with  our  national  life.  The  American  people  as  a 
whole  are  responsible  for  the  existence  of  these  un- 
assimilated  groups  —  these  " alien  islands"  —  that  con- 
stitute not  only  a  menace  to  the  communities  in 
which  they  exist,  not  only  to  the  states  to  which  the 
immigrants  flock  in  large  numbers  because  of  in- 
dustrial demands,  but  far  more  significantly  to  the 
Nation  as  a  whole  and  to  the  ideals  that  the  Nation 
represents. 

The  war  has  also  awakened  the  country  to  the  fact 
that  the  institutions  of  education  are  without  adequate 
means  of  support.  In  every  period  of  war,  prices 
advance  and  the  wages  in  certain  types  of  occupations 
advance  with  them.  But  the  rate  at  which  this  re- 
adjustment takes  place  is  extremely  variable  —  and  far 
from   equitable.     Long  before   a   new   equilibrium   has 


124  ™E    NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

been  struck,  large  groups  of  individuals  suffer.  In  the 
war  just  ended,  in  the  weak,  struggling  school  districts, 
remote  from  the  centers  of  wealth,  the  economic  re- 
adjustments did  not  affect  for  a  long  time  the  real- 
estate  values  which  determine  the  amount  of  tax- 
receipts.  In  spite,  then,  of  the  increased  cost  of  all 
commodities,  these  districts  had  no  more  money  with 
which  to  support  schools  than  they  had  in  peace  times. 
More  than  this,  our  poorest  schools  are  where  the  best 
schools  ought  to  be ;  that  is,  they  are  in  the  com- 
munities that  have  the  least  in  the  way  of  wealth,  culture, 
outlook,  and  opportunity  in  life.  The  child  in  the 
remote  mountain  ravine  is  a  national  asset  just  as 
truly  as  is  the  child  on  the  broad  fertile  prairies  of 
Illinois  or  Iowa.  The  child  in  the  little  miserable 
mining  town  is  just  as  truly  a  national  asset  as  is  the 
child  born  on  Fifth  Avenue  in  New  York.  Our  public- 
school  system  began  with  the  theory  that  each  commu- 
nity should  support  its  own  school.  We  have  already 
seen  how  lamentably,  even  in  colonial  times,  this  theory 
broke  down.  After  a  fashion  it  answered  the  needs  of 
pioneer  days,  but  it  failed  when  the  pioneer  stage  had 
passed,  and  practically  every  state  in  the  Union  has 
found  it  necessary  to  establish  a  system  of  state-wide 
taxation  and  distribution.  It  is  now  clearly  estab- 
lished that  the  adequate  support  of  schools  should  be 
a  charge  upon  the  revenues  of  the  state  as  a  whole. 
Moneys  contributed  in  proportion  to  wealth  must  be 


WHAT   THE   WAR   REVEALED  1 25 

distributed  back  to  the  districts  of  the  state  in  proportion 
to  educational  needs. 

This  movement  toward  equalization  has  not  as  yet 
been  carried  so  far  as  it  should  go  —  so  far  as  it  must 
go,  if  the  needs  of  the  Nation  are  to  be  met.  Nothing 
less  than  a  reasonably  good  teacher  and  a  reasonably 
good  school  for  every  child  in  America  can  either  satisfy 
our  underlying  sense  of  justice  or  afford  the  measure  of 
educational  opportunity  that  is  basal  to  our  democracy. 
It  is  clear,  then,  that  some  stimulus  to  the  states  to 
proceed  further  in  the  "equalization  of  educational 
opportunities"  is  most  decidedly  needed.  It  cannot  be 
left  wholly  to  the  community  to  say  what  kind  of  school 
it  will  have.  The  state  has  a  stake  in  the  schools  of 
every  community,  and  the  Nation  has  an  interest  in  the 
schools  of  every  state. 

The  war  also  made  us  keenly  conscious  that  the 
level  of  physical  health  and  stamina  among  our  people 
was  far  below  what  it  should  have  been  and  what  it  might 
have  been.  Between  twenty-five  and  thirty  per  cent  of 
all  of  those  within  the  first  draft  were  found  to  be 
physically  unfit  for  military  service,  and  most  of  the 
defects  were  of  such  a  character  that  they  could  have 
been  remedied  had  they  been  properly  attended  to  in  the 
early  years  of  life.  There  is,  too,  a  serious  reduction  of 
efficiency  from  forms  of  illness  that  are  easily  avoidable. 
In  Alabama,  for  example,  a  recent  health  survey  "re- 
vealed the  fact  that  an  average  of  approximately  one 


126  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

fourth  of  all  the  people  are  sick  all  the  time."  x  This 
is  computed  to  involve  an  annual  loss  in  earning  power 
of  $250,000,000.  There  is  nothing  that  will  meet  the 
situation  except  the  establishment  of  large,  far-reaching 
programs  of  physical  and  health  education.  During  the 
past  one  hundred  years  medical  science  has  succeeded 
with  meagre  cooperation  from  the  public  in  increasing 
appreciably  the  average  life-span.  This  achievement 
could  be  vastly  extended  by  a  wide  dissemination  of 
health  knowledge  among  the  masses  of  the  people,  — 
instructing  both  children  in  school  and  adults  out  of 
school.  This  program  is  not  only  justified  and  de- 
manded on  economic  grounds ;  individual  happiness, 
social  welfare,  and  national  advancement  are  inevitably 
bound  up  with  it. 

Then,  too,  the  war  revealed  the  weakness  of  a  policy 
that  makes  public-school  teaching  a  casual  and  tem- 
porary occupation,  —  a  mere  means  of  earning  a  living 
until  a  girl  is  ready  for  matrimony  or  until  a  boy  has 
accumulated  a  little  money  to  start  in  business  or  pre- 
pare for  a  profession  that  offers  a  real  "career."  At 
the  outset  of  the  war  the  great  majority  of  the  young 
men  in  teaching  positions  went  into  the  service,  while 
thousands  of  women  teachers  took  the  places  of  other 
young  men  in  industrial  and  commercial  employment. 
The   schoolrooms  were,   in  many   sections,   practically 

1  See  a  summary  of  the  Alabama  Educational  Survey  in  School  Life 
(the  official  organ  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education),  July  1,  1919. 


WHAT  THE   WAR  REVEALED  1 27 

deserted.  In  addition  to  the  patriotic  motives  which 
caused  heavy  inroads  upon  the  teaching  population, 
there  was  a  powerful  economic  motive.  The  average 
annual  wage  of  all  teachers  in  the  United  States  for 
191 5-16,  the  year  just  preceding  our  entrance  into 
the  World  War,  was  $563.08.  The  advent  of  the  war 
did  not  bring  significant  advances;  with  the  war  in 
full  swing,  wages  twice  as  high  were  easily  obtainable 
in  other  occupations.  The  public  gradually  awoke 
to  the  situation  —  but  it  was  then  too  late. 

The  younger,  less  well-trained,  and  less  mature 
teachers  were  commonly  employed  in  the  school  dis- 
tricts with  the  lowest  economic  ability;  hence  the  war 
affected  these  the  most  seriously.  Nor  did  relief  come 
with  the  advent  of  peace.  Young  people  had  learned 
that  much  higher  financial  rewards  could  be  found 
elsewhere,  and  the  schools  were  still  more  generally 
deserted. 

On  the  positive  side,  however,  the  war  emphasized,  in 
a  fresh  and  vigorous  fashion,  the  vital  importance  of 
the  teacher  to  the  Nation's  life.  Every  Governmental 
agency  that  aimed  to  deal  directly  with  the  people 
quickly  discovered  that  the  public  schools  formed  a 
convenient  and  effective  agency  both  of  patriotic  pub- 
licity and  of  actual  patriotic  service.  In  every  city,  town, 
and  hamlet,  and  in  the  district  schools  of  the  open 
country,  the  teachers  soon  found  themselves  literally 
overwhelmed  with  national  responsibilities.     These  they 


128  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

assumed  with  earnestness  and  patriotic  devotion.  They 
organized  their  pupils  to  sell  Liberty  bonds;  through 
their  efforts  very  largely  the  Thrift-stamp  and  War- 
savings  campaigns  met  with  gratifying  success;  they 
formed  Junior  Red  Cross  chapters  which  made  millions 
of  bandages  and  surgical  dressings;  they  directed 
their  pupils  in  the  collection  of  money  and  clothing 
for  overseas  relief ;  they  supervised  the  "War-gardens"  ; 
they  were  so  active  in  having  their  pupils  gather  peach- 
pits  and  nutshells  for  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service  that 
it  was  necessary  to  send  a  special  message  from  Wash- 
ington stopping  the  shipments ;  at  every  possible  point, 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  they  worked  under  official 
Government  direction  to  stimulate  and  conserve  that 
most  important  asset  of  a  nation-in-arms,  —  "  civilian 
morale." 

This  devotion  did  not  pass  unnoticed.  President 
Wilson,  in  September,  191 8,  addressed  the  following 
message  "To  School  Teachers  of  the  United  States": 

"It  is  quite  unnecessary,  I  am  sure,  for  me  to  urge  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  service  you  and  your  pupils  have  rendered  to 
the  Nation  and  to  the  great  cause  for  which  America  is  at  war. 
Whatever  the  Nation's  call  has  been,  the  response  of  the  schools 
has  been  immediate  and  enthusiastic.  The  Nation  and  the  Gov- 
ernment agencies  know  and  appreciate  your  loyalty  and  are 
grateful  for  your  unfailing  support  in  every  war  service."  1 

1  Published  in  National  School  Service  (official  Government  bulletin, 
issued  during  the  latter  part  of  the  war  by  the  Committee  on  Public 
Information,  and  distributed  to  all  public  school  teachers),  September  i, 
1918. 


WHAT  THE   WAR   REVEALED  1 29 

The  heavy  responsibilities  for  national  service  thus 
placed  upon  an  already  depleted  and  overworked 
teaching  personnel,  together  with  the  educational  inad- 
equacies and  shortcomings  revealed  by  the  draft,  led  the 
National  Education  Association  early  in  191 8  to  appoint 
a  Commission  1  to  devise  ways  and  means  of  meeting 
the  emergency.  The  confusion  and  congestion  caused  by 
the  "war  work"  in  the  schools  received  first  attention. 
The  Commission  had  no  official  status,  but  the  Govern- 
ment agencies  welcomed  its  cooperation  as  representing 
the  public-school  workers  of  the  Nation.  Through  its 
efforts  a  "clearing  house"  was  established  at  Wash- 
ington ;  the  activities  of  a  score  of  departments,  bureaus, 
and  committees,  all  attempting  to  work  through  the 
schools,  were  coordinated,  overlappings  were  eliminated, 
rival  claims  reconciled,  and  the  entire  range  of  "war 
activities"  so  reorganized  that  they  not  only  served 
their  immediate  purposes  much  better  than  before,  but 
also  fulfilled  an  educational  function.  Once  this  was 
accomplished,  the  Commission  devoted  its  energies  to 
the  preparation  of  a  program  through  which  the  out- 
standing defects  of  public  education  as  revealed  by  the 
war  might  ultimately  be  remedied.  The  program 
which  resulted  was  embodied  later  in  the  Smith-Towner 

1  Called  at  first  the  "N.  E.  A.  Commission  on  the  Emergency  in 
Education  and  the  Program  for  Readjustment  during  and  after  the 
War";  now  generally  known  as  the  "Emergency  Commission  of  the 
N.  E.  A." 


130  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

Bill,  a  measure  which  will  be  discussed  in  detail  in  the 
following  chapters.1 

If  the  war  revealed  elements  of  weakness  in  the 
Nation's  life  which  were  due  at  basis  to  weaknesses  in 
the  educational  system,  it  is  none  the  less  true  that 
sources  of  strength  were  revealed  which  could  in  like 
manner  be  traced  to  the  schools.  Illiteracy,  limited 
literacy,  physical  deficiencies,  alienism  —  these  are 
certainly  evils  which  education  should  have  corrected ; 
but  the  other  side  of  the  ledger  is  not  without  its  credits. 
The  regime  of  the  public  school  was  not  an  unimportant 
factor  in  making  possible  the  morale  essential  to  the 
successful  conduct  of  the  war ;  if  the  schools  had  failed 
to  Americanize  the  adult  immigrant,  they  had  at  least 
done  passing  well  with  the  immigrant's  children  — 
even  of  stock  that  came  originally  from  enemy  coun- 
tries, the  Americanism  of  the  second  and  third  genera- 
tions, with  very  few  individual  exceptions,  rang  sound 
and  true  ;  and  the  studies  of  the  schools,  open  to  criticism 
though  they  doubtless  are,  have  given  to  the  great  bulk 
of  our  population  the  important  elements  of  common 
knowledge,  common  standards,  and  common  aspirations, 
that  enabled  them  to  think  together,  feel  together, 
and  act  together  when  the  crucial  test  came. 

Another  factor  on  the  positive  side  of  the  record  cer- 
tainly deserves  recognition.  The  country  entered  the 
war  relatively  "unprepared";  yet  the  celerity  and  the 
1  See  also  Appendix  C. 


WHAT   THE   WAR   REVEALED  131 

completeness  with  which  the  program  of  preparation 
was  put  through  served  in  some  measure  to  mitigate 
the  evils  and  reduce  the  perils  that  unpreparedness 
clearly  involved.  At  the  door  of  whatever  persons, 
parties,  policies,  ideals,  or  traditions  our  unpreparedness 
may  be  laid,  the  quickness  with  which  the  Nation  donned 
its  armor  must  be  attributed  in  large  measure  to  the 
educational  system.  It  is  true  that  one  half  of  the 
recruits  in  the  National  Army  had  had  not  more  than 
six  years  of  schooling ;  but,  even  so,  this  record  left  us 
no  worse  off  than  our  associates  in  the  war;  while,  of 
the  other  half,  the  proportion  that  had  reached  the 
advanced  work  of  the  high  school  and  the  college  was 
far  larger  than  in  any  other  country.  Men  of  the 
educational  attainments  necessary  in  the  commissioned 
personnel  were  at  hand  in  such  numbers  that  a  careful 
selection  could  be  made.  The  supply  of  potential 
leadership  was  abundant. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  the  American  high  school 
especially  justified  its  existence.  It  is  well  to  remember 
the  illiterates,  the  limited  literates,  the  physical  defec- 
tives, and  the  un- Americanized  immigrants ;  we  should 
keep  them  in  mind  at  least  until  educational  conditions 
have  been  improved  to  the  point  where  the  handicaps 
that  they  represent  shall  have  disappeared  ;  but  it  would 
be  most  unfortunate  to  be  blind  to  the  real  achievements 
of  our  educational  system,  and  among  these  the  record 
of  the  high  schools  is  the  one  in  which  we  may  glory 


132  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

the  most.  The  American  high  school  is  our  single  in- 
digenous educational  institution.  Its  growth  during 
the  past  thirty  years  had  been  so  remarkable  —  a  ten- 
fold increase  in  enrollment  during  a  period  in  which  the 
general  population  has  increased  only  twofold  —  that 
in  1 913-14  we  had  in  these  schools  almost  as  many 
pupils  as  were  enrolled  in  schools  of  similar  grade  in  all 
other  countries  combined.  We  had,  in  other  words, 
approximated  universal  secondary  education  far  more 
closely  than  had  any  other  nation ;  we  had  carried  to  a 
relatively  high  instructional  level  a  larger  proportion  of 
our  boys  and  girls ;  and  we  had  in  consequence  a  more 
extensive  basis  of  trained  and  informed  intelligence 
among  the  young  men  who  were  called  to  the  colors. 
Because  of  their  attainments,  these  young  men  could 
adapt  themselves  quickly  to  the  military  situation,  — 
and  they  were  sufficiently  numerous  to  "leaven  the 
lump."  In  1914,  Bethmann-Hollweg,  in  setting  forth 
the  factors  that  in  his  judgment  comprised  the  strength 
of  Germany,  concluded  with  the  statement  that  the 
German  continuation  schools 1  had  been  steadily  at  work 
for  a  decade.     In  191 7,  an  American,  in  making  a  similar 

1  The  "continuation"  school  in  pre-war  Germany  was  an  institution 
designed  to  supplement  the  education  of  the  masses  by  providing  part- 
time  instruction  after  boys  and  girls  had  left  the  elementary  school  and 
entered  productive  employment.  Like  all  other  phases  of  mass  edu- 
cation in  Germany,  it  aimed  to  develop  a  narrow  but  efficient  proletariat, 
—  a  body  of  skilled  workers  who  would  be  cheerfully  subservient  to  the 
will  of  the  ruling  classes. 


WHAT    THE    WAR   REVEALED  133 

inventory  of  the  factors  determining  the  strength  of  his 
Nation,  might  well  have  set  in  a  position  of  the  first 
rank  the  fact  that  the  American  high  school  had  been 
steadily  at  work  for  three  decades. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Current  Proposals  in  Congress 

Such  interest  in  proposed  educational  legislation  as 
was  outlined  in  Chapter  XII  and  the  educational  short- 
comings that  were  briefly  described  in  Chapter  XIII, 
are  naturally  paralleled  by  proposals  in  Congress. 

The  long-continued  interest  of  the  National  Education 
Association  in  expanding  the  Bureau  of  Education  has 
frequently  found  expression  in  projected  legislation. 
For  several  years  past,  Senator  Owen,  of  Oklahoma,  has 
fathered  a  measure  looking  to  this  end.  In  the  Sixty- 
sixth  Congress,  the  Owen  Educational  Bill  is  known  as 
S  819.  It  is  a  very  brief  bill  creating  an  executive 
department  of  government  to  be  known  as  the  Depart- 
ment of  Education.  A  Secretary  of  Education  is  pro- 
vided for,  and  the  Bureau  of  Education,  now  in  the 
Department  of  the  Interior,  is  transferred  to  the  new 
department.     Beyond  this,  the  bill  merely  provides : 

"that  it  shall  be  the  province  and  duty  of  said  Department  of 
Education  to  collect,  classify,  and  disseminate  information  and 
advice  on  all  phases  of  education  and  through  cooperation  with 
State,  county,  district,  and  municipal  education  officers  to  promote, 
foster,  and  develop  advancement  and  improvement  in  the  public 
school  system  throughout  the  United  States." 

134 


CURRENT  PROPOSALS  IN  CONGRESS       I35 

This  bill  might,  with  propriety,  have  been  introduced 
at  any  time  within  the  past  twenty-five  years.  This  is 
another  way  of  saying  that  it  does  not  adequately  meet 
the  situation  which  the  war  has  revealed.  Just  what 
it  omits  will  be  shown  later  in  the  consideration  of  other 
bills. 

The  military  draft,  as  we  have  seen,  drew  public 
attention  to  the  high  per  cent  of  illiteracy  both  in  the 
native-born  population  and  in  a  large  section  of  the 
immigrant  population.  In  the  latter,  too,  the  need  of 
more  adequate  measures  for  Americanization  was 
clearly  revealed.  Under  the  present  organization  of 
the  Federal  Government,  both  illiteracy  and  alienism 
come  properly  within  the  purview  of  the  Department 
of  the  Interior.  Out  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior, 
as  might  be  expected,  there  has  come  a  program  for  the 
reduction  of  illiteracy  and  for  the  Americanization  of 
foreigners.  This  program  is  embodied  in  the  "Lane 
Bill,"  introduced  at  the  instance  of  Secretary  Franklin 
K.  Lane  by  Senator  Hoke  Smith,  of  Georgia  (as  S  17) 
and  Representative  William  B.  Bankhead,  of  Alabama, 
(H.  R.  1204). 

The  purpose  of  the  bill,  as  expressed  in  its  title,  is : 

"To  promote  the  education  of  native  illiterates,  of  persons 
unable  to  understand  and  use  the  English  language,  and  of  other 
resident  persons  of  foreign  birth ;  to  provide  for  cooperation  with 
the  States  in  the  education  of  such  persons  in  the  English  language, 
the  fundamental  principles  of  government  and  citizenship,  the 
elements  of  knowledge  pertaining  to  self-support  and  home  making, 


I36  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

and  in  such  other  work  as  will  assist  in  preparing  such  illiterate 
and  foreign-born  persons  for  successful  living  and  intelligent 
American  citizenship." 

The  plan  of  the  bill  is  as  follows : 

(1)  The  Department  of  the  Interior,  through  the 
Bureau  of  Education,  is  authorized  and  directed  to 
cooperate  with  the  several  states  in  the  education  of 
illiterates  and  foreign-born  persons,  and  also  in  the 
preparation  of  teachers  for  this  work. 

(2)  An  initial  appropriation  of  $5,000,000  is  provided 
for  the  first  year  for  the  actual  instruction  of  illiterates 
and  immigrants.  Annually  thereafter,  until  June  30, 
1926,  the  appropriation  is  to  be  $12,500,000. 

(3)  For  the  preparation  of  teachers,  the  first  appro- 
priation is  $250,000;  annually  thereafter,  the  appro- 
priation is  $750,000. 

(4)  A  state  must  accept  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
appoint  an  official  as  custodian  of  the  funds,  authorize 
its  chief  school  officer  to  cooperate  with  the  United 
States  in  the  work  in  question,  and  appropriate  for  the 
same  purposes  an  amount  equal  to  its  Federal  allotment. 
Both  the  Federal  allotment  and  the  duplicate  fund 
appropriated  by  the  state  are  to  be  expended  only  for 
instruction,  supervision,  and  administration.  The 
Federal  allotment  is  further  subject  to  the  proviso : 

"That  no  state  shall  be  entitled  to  participate  in  the  benefits 
of  this  act  until  it  shall,  by  appropriate  legislation,  require  the 
instruction  for  not  less  than  two  hundred  hours  per  annum  of 


CURRENT  PROPOSALS   IN   CONGRESS  1 37 

all  illiterate  minors  or  minors  unable  to  speak,  read,  or  write  the 
English  language,  more  than  sixteen  years  of  age,  at  schools  or 
places  or  by  other  methods  of  elementary  instruction,  until  such 
minors  have  completed  a  course  in  English  generally  equivalent 
to  that  supplied  by  third-grade  schools." 

The  plan  is  to  put  all  illiterates  and  non-English  speaking 
persons  between  sixteen  and  twenty-one  into  school 
for  at  least  two  hundred  hours  a  year.  This  program 
could  be  worked  out  in  various  ways,  —  five  hours  a 
week  for  forty  weeks,  ten  hours  a  week  for  twenty  weeks, 
twenty  hours  a  week  for  ten  weeks. 

(5)  The  allotments  to  the  states  are  to  be  made 
annually  on  the  basis  of  the  total  illiterate  population 
resident  in  the  states  and  of  persons  ten  years  of  age 
and  over  who  are  unable  to  speak  the  English  language, 
—  in  the  ratio  which  these  totals  bear  to  similar  totals 
for  the  entire  country.1  It  should  be  noted  that  the 
allotment  is  on  one  age  basis  (ten  years  and  over)  while 
the  instruction  to  be  provided  is  on  another  age  basis 
(sixteen  years  and  over). 

(6)  Each  state  must  submit  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  for  approval  its  : 

"plans  showing  the  manner  in  which  it  is  proposed  that  the  ap- 
propriation shall  be  used,  including  the  kind  of  instruction  and 
equipment  to  be  provided,  courses  of  study,  methods  of  instruc- 
tion, qualifications  of  teachers,  supervisors,  and  directors,  and  the 
kind  of  schools  in  which  and  the  conditions  under  which  the 
training  of  teachers,  supervisors,  and  directors  is  to  be  given." 

1  Excluding  the  District  of  Columbia. 


138  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

If  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  approves  these  detailed 
plans  and  is  convinced  that  a  state  is  using  or  is  pre- 
pared to  use  the  allotments,  he  shall  certify  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  the  amounts  of  money  to  which  the 
state  is  entitled.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is 
authorized  to  withhold  allotments  when  previous  allot- 
ments have  not  been  expended  or  when  "other  terms  and 
conditions  of  this  act  have  not  been  complied  with." 

(7)  Each  state  must  guarantee  against  loss  or  sub- 
version of  the  funds. 

(8)  The  Department  of  the  Interior  is  given  an 
initial  appropriation  of  $250,000  and  $1,000,000  annually 
thereafter,  "for  the  purpose  of  administering,  carrying 
out,  and  enforcing  the  provisions  of  this  act,"  and  for 
making  investigations,  studies,  and  reports. 

(9)  No  part  of  a  Federal  allotment  is  to  be  spent 
"for  the  support  of  any  religious  or  privately  owned 
and  conducted  school  or  institution." 

(10)  An  annual  report  to  Congress  is  required  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  including  a  "statement  as  to 
what  has  been  done  by  the  several  States  thereunder." 

(11)  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is: 

"authorized  to  perform  any  and  all  acts  and  make  all  rules  and 
regulations  which  he  shall  deem  necessary  and  proper  to  carry 
this  act  into  full  force  and  effect." 

The  purpose  of  this  bill  is  laudable.  It  starts  with 
the  existing  native  illiterate  and  un-Americanized 
groups  and  proposes  a  type  of  education  that  is  designed 


CURRENT  PROPOSALS   IN   CONGRESS  1 39 

to  make  of  these  people  as  good  citizens  as  possible  under 
the  conditions.  It  places  a  great  deal  of  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  —  power  that 
might  well  be  seriously  questioned  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  already  has  many 
very  widely  different  duties  to  perform.  If  it  be  replied 
that  the  Commissioner  of  Education  is  to  exercise  this 
power  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  the  answer  is  that  the  qualifications  of  neither 
are  changed  by  this  interrelationship  and  possible  divi- 
sion of  power.  Clearly,  it  is  not  wise  to  place  the  powers 
granted  in  this  bill  in  the  hands  of  any  one  but  the  best- 
qualified  educational  administrator  in  the  land.  It  is 
equally  clear  that  the  services  of  such  a  man  cannot  be 
secured  either  in  the  office  of  the  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion or  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  for 
the  best-qualified  educational  administrator  could  not 
accept  the  salary  or  the  subordinate  position  of  the  Com- 
missioner nor  would  he  be  willing  to  undertake  the  other 
duties  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

The  bill  is  faulty  in  four  ways  respecting  the  work  it 
undertakes  to  do. 

In  the  first  place,  the  bill  does  not  provide  for  the 
group  between  ten  and  sixteen  years  of  age,  —  a  period 
in  which  children  can  learn  a  language  and  acquire 
basic  civic  standards  far  more  readily  than  after  the 
age  of  sixteen.  To  say  that  a  native-  or  foreign-born 
person  between  ten  and  sixteen  years  of  age  is  to  be  put 


14O  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

into  the  beginning  class  with  six-year-old  children  in 
the  public  schools  is  to  admit  that  one  does  not  under- 
stand the  practical  working  of  our  public-school  system. 

In  the  second  place,  the  bill  does  not  seem  to  recognize 
that  there  are  two  distinct  problems  involved  in  its 
general  terms,  viz.,  the  problem  of  teaching  those  who 
already  understand  spoken  English,  —  the  purely  techni- 
cal problem  of  associating  familiar  ideas  and  familiar 
spoken  words  with  written  and  printed  forms,  —  and 
the  problem  of  teaching  those  to  whom  English  is 
as  Greek,  —  a  problem  of  associating  ideas  with  strange 
spoken  words  and  stranger  written  and  printed  forms. 

In  the  third  place,  there  is  no  valid  reason  for  limiting 
the  social  value  of  the  work  contemplated  in  the  bill 
to  those  who  have  not  passed  the  age  of  twenty-one. 
Compulsion  might  not  be  advisable  beyond  this  age,  but 
opportunity  is  advisable  and  desirable.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  limit  the  bounty  of  the  Government  to  those  who  have 
not  passed  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  bill  does  not  go  to  the  heart 
of  the  illiteracy  problem,  —  namely,  the  underlying 
deficiencies  in  the  rural  schools.  To  reduce  adult 
illiteracy  will  bring  no  permanent  relief.  The  signifi- 
cance of  the  rural  and  village  schools  to  this  problem 
is  fully  discussed  in  Chapter  XVIII. 

The  crowning  objection  to  the  bill,  however,  is  that  it 
does  not  meet  the  whole  educational  need  of  the  coun- 
try as  revealed  by  the  war.     It  makes  no  provision  for 


CURRENT  PROPOSALS   IN   CONGRESS  141 

physical  and  health  education,  for  the  preparation  of 
teachers  for  the  public  schools,  nor  for  the  equalization 
of  educational  opportunities  within  the  states.  It 
substantially  denies  the  validity  of  these  claims.  There 
is  no  statesmanship  in  so  narrow  a  proposal.  The 
provisions  of  the  bill  "in  and  of  themselves"  are  not 
objectionable,  but  they  represent  a  delusive  surface- 
measure  which,  taken  alone,  will  be  both  uneconomical 
and  disappointing.  The  defects  that  it  seeks  to  remedy 
cannot  be  considered  "in  and  of  themselves,"  but  only 
as  parts  of  a  larger  whole.  That  larger  whole  is  nothing 
less  than  the  ideal  of  democracy  as  embodied  in  a  per- 
fected free  public-school  system.  When  that  ideal  is 
realized,  there  will  no  native-born  illiterates  growing 
up  in  successive  generations,  and  there  will  be  no  non- 
Americanized  foreign-born,  because  compulsory  attend- 
ance will  put  all  children  into  school  and  because  the 
school  itself  will  prepare  the  foreigner  who  comes  to  our 
shores  for  citizenship.  It  seems  far  wiser  to  provide  for 
the  extension  of  the  public-school  system  to  meet  the 
needs  of  our  day  and  generation  than  to  create  for  five  or 
six  years  a  faulty  machinery  to  do  very  largely  under 
Federal  direction  a  work  that  the  public-school  system 
can  and  will  do  if  it  is  given  the  encouragement  and  the 
aid  that  it  ought  to  have. 

The  one  comprehensive  educational  bill  now  before 
Congress   is    the    Smith-Towner    Bill.1     This   bill    was 
1  H.  R.  7;   S.  1017,  66th  Congress. 


142  THE  NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

prepared  in  outline  form  by  the  Emergency  Commission 
of  the  National  Education  Association  during  the  spring 
and  summer  of  191 8.  It  was  introduced  into  the  Sixty- 
fifth  Congress  by  Senator  Hoke  Smith  in  October,  191 8, 
and  by  Representative  Horace  Mann  Towner  on  January 
30,  1919.  During  the  interval  between  March,  1919, 
and  May,  191 9,  the  bill  was  revised  with  the  active 
cooperation  of  the  Educational  Committee  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  reintroduced  in 
the  Sixty-sixth  Congress  in  May,  191 9. 

The  bill  is  comprehensive  because  it  provides  a  pro- 
gram to  correct  not  only  the  superficial  weaknesses  which 
the  war  revealed  in  our  American  public  educational  sys- 
tem, but  also  the  underlying  deficiencies  which  stand  to 
these  weaknesses  as  cause  to  effect.  It  creates  a  Depart- 
ment of  Education  that  has  a  real  function  to  fulfill,  — 
and  a  function  that  can  be  fulfilled,  as  the  terms  of 
the  bill  clearly  provide,  without  infringing  upon  the 
rights  of  the  states.  It  includes  an  appropriation  for 
the  removal  of  illiteracy  among  the  native-born,  and 
another  appropriation  for  the  Americanization  of  the 
foreign-born.  It  provides,  by  appropriation,  for  a  pro- 
gram of  equalizing  educational  opportunities  within 
every  state,  and  thus  aims  squarely  and  effectively  at 
the  fundamental  defects  of  rural  education.  It  makes 
possible  a  comprehensive  and  nation-wide  program 
of  physical  and  health  education.  And,  fundamental 
to  the   success    of    all    these   measures,   it   places    the 


CURRENT  PROPOSALS  IN  CONGRESS       143 

preparation  of  teachers   upon  a  solid   and  substantial 
basis.1 

In  the  chapters  that  immediately  follow,  these  provi- 
sions and  the  facts  associated  with  them  will  be  con- 
sidered in  detail. 

1  The  Smith-Towner  Bill  is  found  in  full  in  Appendix  C. 


CHAPTER  XV 

The  Reduction  or  Illiteracy  among  the 
Native-born 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  problem  of  illiteracy 
was  widely  discussed  during  the  two  decades  follow- 
ing the  Civil  War,  and  that  several  proposals  were 
introduced  in  Congress  looking  toward  the  solution 
of  the  problem  through  national  aid.  Although  these 
proposals  failed,  the  churches  and  private  philanthropic 
enterprises  worked  unremittingly  to  remedy  the  situa- 
tion. Largely  as  a  result  of  these  efforts,  —  and  partic- 
ularly those  of  the  Southern  Education  Board,  —  the 
southern  states  have  developed  free  public-school  sys- 
tems which  have  been  important  agencies  in  reducing  il- 
literacy. At  the  same  time,  the  population  has  increased 
rapidly  in  the  South,  the  increase  has  come  in  large  meas- 
ure from  desirable  sources,  and  these  factors  have  co- 
operated with  educational  efforts  to  improve  conditions. 
In  the  North  and  West,  on  the  other  hand,  the  large 
influx  of  immigrants  from  Southeastern  Europe  has 
tended  to  increase  illiteracy,  and  the  failure  of  most  of 
the  states  to  raise  significantly  the  standards  of  rural 
education    has   prevented    the    reduction    of   illiteracy 

144 


REDUCTION   OF   ILLITERACY  AMONG   NATIVE-BORN      1 45 

among  the  native-born  in  a  measure  that  might  have 
been  expected.  The  situation,  then,  is  still  far  from 
comforting. 

Illiteracy  may  be  considered  in  totals  as  well  in  per- 
centages of  totals.  The  Abstract  of  the  Census  (1910, 
p.  239)  gives  a  table  from  which  some  instructive  com- 
parisons can  be  made. 

In  1880,  there  were  6,239,958  illiterates  in  the  country 
as  a  whole.  In  1910,  there  were  5,516,163  illiterates. 
In  thirty  years  the  decrease  had  amounted  to  723,795, 
or  an  average  annual  decrease  of  24,126.  If  this  rate 
of  decrease  is  continued,  illiteracy  will  disappear  at  the 
end  of  228  years.     This  seems  a  hopeless  prospect. 

If  we  consider  whites  alone,  we  get  less  comfort.  In 
1880,  there  were  3,019,080  white  illiterates  in  the 
United  States.  In  1910,  the  white  illiterates  numbered 
3,184,633,  —  an  increase  of  165,553.  The  average  an- 
nual increase  was  5518.  The  explanation  of  this  startling 
increase  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  number  of  foreign- 
born  white  illiterates  increased  from  763,620  in  1880 
to  1,650,361  in  1910,  —  an  average  yearly  increase  of 
29,558.  This  vast  group  will  be  considered  in  Chapter 
XVI. 

In  the  same  thirty-year  span,  1880-1910,  the  native- 
white  illiterates  decreased  from  2,255,460  to  1,534,272  — 
a  decrease  of  721,188,  or  an  average  annual  decrease  of 
24,039.  At  this  rate,  illiteracy  among  the  native  whites 
would  disappear  after  the  lapse  of  sixty-three  years. 


146  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  census  figures  do  not  permit  a  thirty-year 
comparison  regarding  the  negroes  or  the  subdivisions 
of  the  native-white  illiterates.  The  figures  are  available, 
however,  in  the  table  quoted,  for  a  twenty-year  span. 
Illiteracy  among  native  whites  of  native  parentage 
decreased  from  1,890,723  in  1890  to  1,378,884  in  1910, 
—  a  decrease  of  511,239  in  twenty  years,  or  an  average 
annual  decrease  of  25,562.  This  annual  decrease 
would  need  to  be  repeated  fifty-three  times  to  bring  this 
type  of  illiteracy  to  an  end. 

The  native  whites  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage 
decreased  from  174,280  in  1890  to  155,388  in  1910, — 
an  actual  decrease  of  18,892  per  year.  If  this  rate  were 
maintained,  illiterates  of  this  group  would  disappear  in 
about  eight  or  nine  years. 

Whenever  illiteracy  among  the  native-born  is  men- 
tioned, one  thinks  at  once  of  the  negro.  In  the  twenty 
years  from  1890  to  1910,  the  negro  illiterates  decreased 
from  3,042,668  to  2,227,731,  —  an  average  annual  de- 
crease of  40,726.  If  this  average  annual  decrease  could 
be  maintained,  illiteracy  among  the  negroes  would  dis- 
appear fifty-four  or  fifty-five  years  after  1910,  —  or  just 
about  one  year  after  illiteracy  disappeared  among  the 
native  whites  of  native  parentage. 

It  is  well  known,  however,  that  illiteracy  does  not  dis- 
appear according  to  such  regular  decreases  as  have  been 
assumed  for  the  purposes  of  comparative  illustration.  It 
disappears  only  as  the  older  illiterates  are  taught  and 


REDUCTION   OF   ILLITERACY  AMONG   NATIVE-BORN      147 

as  those  who  are  under  the  age  of  ten  are  so  taught  that 
they  do  not  become  classified  as  illiterates.  The  com- 
plete elimination  of  illiteracy  among  the  native-born 
whites  and  among  the  negroes  is  primarily  a  problem  of 
education  during  the  years  of  childhood,  —  not  a  prob- 
lem of  adult  training.  The  prospects  of  a  substantial 
reduction  through  this  agency  are  at  the  present  time 
very  far  from  encouraging  unless  the  problem  of  rural 
education  can  be  attacked  on  a  nation-wide  basis. 

Technically,  an  illiterate  is  a  person  ten  years  of  age 
or  over  who  cannot  write  in  any  language ;  the  standard 
assumed  is  that  those  who  cannot  write  cannot  read. 
On  the  educational  side,  therefore,  the  problem  of 
removing  illiteracy  among  native-born  adults  is  a  problem 
of  organizing  means  and  methods  by  which  those  who 
are  ten  years  of  age  or  over  may  be  taught  to  read  and 
write  the  English  language.  The  fundamental  purpose 
of  such  instruction  is  to  make  it  possible  for  these  people 
to  participate  in  the  broader  social  life  through  the  ideas 
which  they  may  acquire  from  the  printed  page  and  which 
they  may  express  by  means  of  writing. 

It  is  evident  that  most  of  these  illiterates  are  over- 
age, or  "retarded,"  when  judged  by  public-school 
standards.  In  justice  to  them  and  to  the  children  of 
normal  age-grade  in  our  public  schools,  an  organization 
distinct  but  not  separate  from  our  present  public-school 
organization  should  be  created.  The  schools  for  illit- 
erates should  be  a  part  of  the  public-school  system, 


148  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

but  they  should  have  their  own  distinct  organization, 
which,  in  turn,  should  be  determined  by  the  particular 
kind  of  work  that  is  to  be  done  with  illiterates. 

The  elimination  of  illiteracy  among  the  native-born, 
then,  is  primarily  a  public-school  problem.  All  children 
should  go  to  school  long  past  the  age  of  ten  years.  Every 
state  in  the  Union  has  found  it  necessary  to  enact  com- 
pulsory school  laws  to  secure  the  minimum  results 
expected  from  education.  The  right  of  parents  to 
educate  their  own  children  cannot  be  construed  to 
include  the  right  to  leave  them  entirely  unschooled. 
The  state,  representing  the  organized  collective  interests 
of  the  people  as  a  whole,  has  established  its  right  to 
compel  parents  to  send  children  to  school  to  the  end 
that  its  own  future  welfare  may  be  safeguarded.  If  in 
one  state  71.7  per  cent  of  the  children  from  ten  to 
fourteen  years  of  age  are  in  school,  while  in  another 
state  95.5  per  cent  of  the  children  of  these  ages  are  in 
school,  there  will  inevitably  be  a  vast  social  difference 
between  these  two  states  in  the  years  that  lie  ahead. 
If  the  ages  from  five  to  nine  be  considered,  and  the  first 
state  has  only  40.2  per  cent  of  these  children  in  school 
while,  between  the  same  ages,  the  second  state  has 
73.9  per  cent  in  school,  the  next  census  will  show  a  much 
higher  per  cent  of  illiteracy  in  the  first  state.1  It  is 
futile  to  contend  that  the  evil  effects  of  this  condition 

1  See  table  20,  p.  238,  Abstract  of  the  Census,  1910,  for  material  for 
data  for  numberless  comparisons  of  this  sort. 


REDUCTION   OF   ILLITERACY   AMONG   NATIVE-BORN      1 49 


will  be  limited  to  the  state  itself.  Illiteracy  anywhere 
within  the  national  boundaries  is  a  menace  to  the  whole 
nation.  The  obvious  conclusion  is  that  an  effective 
and  thoroughgoing  type  of  elementary  education  must 
be  made  universal  if  illiteracy  is  to  be  stamped  out. 

In  age  groups,  the  native  illiterates  are  distributed  as 
follows : * 


1910 

Negro 

Per  Cent 

Native 
White 

Per  Cent 

10  to  14  years  of  age  .     .     . 

2i8,555 

18.9 

131,991 

1-7 

15  to  19  years  of  age  .     .     . 

214,860 

20.3 

140,323 

1.9 

20  to  24  years  of  age  .     .     . 

245,860 

23-9 

148,541 

2-3 

25  to  34  years  of  age  .     .     . 

380,742 

24.6 

247,774 

2.4 

35  to  44  years  of  age  .     .     . 

351,858 

32.3 

235,489 

30 

45  to  64  years  of  age  .     .     . 

584,514 

52.7 

446,855 

5.0 

64  and  more  years  of  age    . 

219,255 

74-5 

179,219 

7-3 

This  table  shows  that  the  public  school  has  gradually 
increased  in  effectiveness.  This  is  clearly  true  in  the 
urban  communities,  and  the  large  increase  of  the  urban 
population  is  in  part  responsible  for  the  improvements 
that  the  table  reveals.  It  is  clear,  too,  that  the  decrease 
in  illiteracy  is  in  part  accounted  for  by  death  in  the  older 
age-groups  in  which  the  percentage  of  illiteracy  is  high- 
est. This  is  only  another  recognition  of  the  work  of  the 
elementary  school.     If  the  elementary  school  could  enroll 

1  Made  from  table  27,  pp.  241-242,  Abstract  of  the  Census,  1910.  Note 
that  the  time-span  is  not  the  same  in  all  cases.  It  is  five  years,  then  ten, 
and  finally  twenty  years.  The  percentage  columns  show  the  proportion 
which  each  illiterate  age-group  bears  to  the  total  of  that  age-group. 
To  obtain  the  percentage  of  literacy,  one  should  take  the  complement 
of  the  percentages  shown. 


150  THE   NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

all  children  between  the  ages  of  six  and  ten,  and  teach 
them  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  efficiency,  the  next  census 
should  show  no  illiterates  in  the  age-group  ten  to  fourteen 
years.  Another  decade  should  show  none  in  the  age- 
groups  fifteen  to  nineteen  and  twenty  to  twenty-four. 
In  this  way  illiteracy  would  be  prevented,  —  not 
removed,  for  under  this  plan  death  alone  will  entirely 
eliminate  illiteracy. 

The  fundamental  cause  of  illiteracy  as  it  exists  to-day 
in  the  native-born  population  is  therefore  to  be  sought 
and  found  in  the  inadequate  available  school  facilities 
and  in  the  lack  of  an  effective  policy  of  compulsory 
school  attendance.  There  is  very  little  illiteracy  that 
is  due  to  the  individual  illiterate.  The  fault  lay,  then, 
with  whom?  To  a  very  small  extent,  with  the  parents 
who  would  not  send  their  children  to  school,  but  chiefly 
with  communities  that  did  not  organize  good  schools, 
with  states  that  did  not  safeguard  their  own  welfare 
by  requiring  good  schools  to  be  established,  and  with 
both  states  and  communities  that  did  not  compel  school 
attendance.  The  full  significance  of  this  neglect  did 
not  appear  until  illiteracy  revealed  itself  in  its  true 
light  as  a  National  handicap.  The  Nation  called  the 
men  between  twenty-one  and  thirty-one  to  her  defense 
in  191 7,  and  found  that  700,000  of  them  were  illiterate. 
These  men,  no  matter  how  great  their  desire  to  serve 
their  country,  were,  as  a  group,  liabilities  instead  of 
assets.     Their    very   presence   in    the    training    camps 


REDUCTION  OF  ILLITERACY  AMONG  NATIVE-BORN      151 

interfered  with  the  preparation  of  others  and  appreciably- 
delayed  our  effective  participation  in  the  war,  and  when 
they  were  sent  to  France,  their  inability  to  read  orders, 
to  interpret  signals,  and  to  cooperate  in  a  multitude  of 
other  ways  in  which  a  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing 
is  indispensable,  caused  no  end  of  confusion  and  delay,  to 
say  nothing  of  personal  embarrassment  and  mortification. 

NUMBER    OF   ILLITERATES   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES    TEN    YEARS    OF    AGE 
AND   OVER,    EXCLUDING   FOREIGN-BORN    WHITES,    3,762,003. 

Amount  of  Federal  aid  for  each  illiterate  under  terms  of  Bill,  $1,994. 


Continental  United  States : 

North  Atlantic  Division 

North  Central  Division 

South  Atlantic  Division 

South  Central  Division 

Western  Division     .     . 

Total 

North  Atlantic  Division: 

Maine 

New  Hampshire  .    .    . 

Vermont 

Massachusetts     .     .     . 

Rhode  Island  .... 

Connecticut    .... 

New  York 

New  Jersey     .... 

Pennsylvania  .... 
North  Central  Division: 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 


Number  of 

Illiterate  I 

Natives  10 

Years  or  Age 

AND  OVER  IN 

1910 


3,762,003 
173,560 

315,595 
1,403,241 
1,810,303 

59,304 
3,762,003 

9,917 

2,890 

4,564 

",747 
4,005 

4,375 
42,086 
19,658 
74,3i8 

57,77o 
47,9H 
50,199 
18,672 
11,581 
6,053 


Per  Cent 

of  Total 

Illiterate 

Natives  in 

1910 


100.0000 

4-6I37 

8.3890 

37-3003 

48.1207 

I-5763 
100.0000 

.2636 
.0768 
.1213 
.3122 
.1064 
.1162 

1.1187 
•5225 

1-9754 

1-5356 

1.2736 

1-3343 

•4963 

.3078 

.1608 


Allotment  ov 

$  7,500.000.00 

Section  8 


$7,500,000.00 

346,078.64 

629,296.43 

2,798,062.55 

3,609,744.18 

118,252.18 

$7,50i,433-98 

$      i9,774-50 

5,762.66 

9,100.62 

23,423-52 

7,985-97 

8,723-75 

83,919.48 

39,198.05 

148,190.09 

$  lIS,i93-38 
95,540.52 
100,096.81 
37,231-97 
23,092.51 
12,069.68 


152 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


NUMBER    OF     ILLITERATES   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES   TEN    YEARS    OF    AGE 
AND    OVER,    EXCLUDING   FOREIGN-BORN    WHITES,    3,762,003    (Cotlt.) 


North  Central  Division  (Conl. ) 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North  Dakota     .... 

South  Dakota      .... 

Nebraska 

Kansas 

South  Atlantic  Division: 

Delaware 

Maryland 

District  of  Columbia    .     . 

Virginia 

West  Virginia 

North  Carolina   .... 

South  Carolina    .... 

Georgia 

Florida 

South  Central  Division: 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas     

Arkansas    

Oklahoma 

Western  Division: 

Montana 

Wyoming 

Colorado 

New  Mexico 

Arizona 

Utah 

Nevada 

Idaho     

Washington 

Oregon  

California 


Number  of 

Illiterate 

Natives  10 

Years  of  Age 

and  OVER  IN 

1910 


12,813 
88,304 

1,439 

1,277 

4,760 

14,813 

9,870 
61,241 

",774 
230,407 

6i,754 
288,492 
276,487 
398,842 

74,374 

204,697 
219,507 
350,396 
288,137 
339,507 
215,209 
141,423 
5i,427 

850 
400 

8,989 
30,529 

3,898 
881 
213 
744 

2,075 

1,887 


Per  Cent 
of  Total 
Illiterate 
Natives  in 
1910 


•3405 

2.3472 

.0382 

•0339 

.1265 

•3937 

.2623 
1.6278 

.3129 
6.1245 
1.6415 
7-6685 

7-3494 

10.3363 

1.9767 

5-44II 
5-8348 
9-3I40 

7-659I 
9.0246 
5-7205 
3-7592 
1.3670 

.0225 
.0106 
.2389 
.8115 
.1036 
.0234 
.0056 
.0197 

■0551 
•0501 

•2349 


Allotment  of 

$7,500,000.00 

Section  8 


25,549-12 

176,078.17 

2,869.37 

2,546.34 

9,491-44 

29,537-12 

19,680.78 
122,114.55 

23,477-36 
459,43i-56 
123,137-48 
575,253-OS 
551,315.08 

775,350.94 
148,301.75 

408,165.81 
437,696.96 
698,689.62 
574,545.18 
676,976.96 
429,126.75 
281,997.46 
102,545.44 

1,694.90 

797.60 

17,924.07 

60,874.83 

7,772.61 

i,756.7i 
424.72 

i,483-54 

4,137-55 

3,762.68 

17,622.97 


REDUCTION   OF   ILLITERACY  AMONG   NATIVE-BORN       1 53 

Where  are  these  illiterates?  The  preceding  table 
shows  the  distribution  of  native-born  illiterates  by  groups 
of  states,  and  by  states,  both  as  to  actual  numbers  and 
as  to  the  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  illiterates 
resident  in  a  given  state  or  group  of  states.  For  con- 
venience, this  table  also  shows  the  allotment  to  each 
state  for  the  removal  of  illiteracy  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  section  eight  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill. 

The  Smith-Towner  Bill  does  not  seek  to  impose  upon 
the  states  any  special  method  or  device  for  the  removal 
of  illiteracy.  To  frame  effective  programs  for  the  solu- 
tion of  this  problem  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  states. 
The  proper  place  and  function  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment is  to  stimulate  the  states  to  undertake  it,  and  to 
render  financial  assistance  to  each  state,  first,  in  propor- 
tion to  its  need  as  shown  by  its  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  illiterates,  and,  secondly,  in  proportion  to  the 
effort  which  the  state  itself  is  willing  to  make  toward 
the  removal  of  illiteracy.  The  Federal  allotment  is 
$1,994  annually  for  each  illiterate.  An  equal  ap- 
propriation by  a  state  would  make  available  al- 
most $4.00  annually  for  each  illiterate  within  a  given 
state.  It  would  be  unwise  to  attempt  to  teach  all  of 
the  illiterates  of  any  state  in  a  given  year.  The  work 
of  instruction  demands  specially  prepared  teachers  who 
are  not  now  available.  If,  however,  one  tenth  of  the 
illiterates  of  the  youngest  age-groups  were  selected,  and 
approximately    forty    dollars    made    available    for    the 


154  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

instruction  of  each,  a  most  satisfactory  beginning  could 
be  made.  The  teachers  would  be  gaining  experience 
with  the  group  that  is  easiest  to  teach,  and  thus  be 
preparing  themselves  for  the  more  difficult  task  of 
teaching  the  older  age-groups. 

The  plan  thus  far  outlined  would  not  of  itself  be 
successful.  It  needs  the  assured  support  which  the 
allotments  for  the  equalization  of  educational  oppor- 
tunities and  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  afford.  It 
will  suffice  here  to  state  that  these  allotments  in  the 
Smith-Towner  Bill  are  sufficient  to  assure  twenty-four 
weeks  of  school  each  year  for  every  child  in  America 
and  to  assure,  also,  in  a  very  short  time,  a  well-prepared 
teacher  for  every  schoolroom  in  the  land. 

There  is  another  reason  for  not  attempting  to  prescribe 
by  Federal  legislation  the  methods  of  procedure  by 
the  states.  Constitutionally,  the  right  to  organize, 
supervise,  and  administer  education  within  a  state  is 
clearly  the  function  of  the  state  itself.  If  a  state  accepts 
a  law  with  procedure  specifically  defined  in  it,  it  sub- 
stantially enters  into  a  contract  with  the  Federal 
Government.  It  is  an  open  and  undetermined  question 
whether  such  a  contract  is  not  itself  unconstitutional. 
In  other  words,  can  a  state  by  contract  surrender  to  the 
Federal  Government  a  function  which  the  Constitution 
has  reserved  to  the  state?  Since  the  purpose  of  the 
bill  is  to  have  illiteracy  removed,  it  is  wise  not  to  involve 
in  the  issue  provisions  that  raise  constitutional  question's 


REDUCTION   OF   ILLITERACY  AMONG  NATIVE-BORN      1 55 

The  problem  of  removing  illiteracy  has  been  before 
the  country  and  before  Congress  for  fifty  years.  Our 
participation  in  the  World  War  has  set  the  disadvantage 
and  menace  of  illiteracy  in  unprecedented  clearness 
before  the  Nation.  If  the  problem  is  ever  to  be  attacked 
vigorously,  now  is  the  time. 

The  table  on  pages  156-157  shows  the  number  of  native- 
born  white  illiterates,  negro  illiterates,  and  total  native- 
born  illiterates  for  1900  and  1910.  A  careful  examination 
of  the  data  will  serve  to  emphasize  the  necessity  for 
Federal  stimulation.1 

In  reading  the  table,  one  should  keep  several  things 
clearly  in  mind  or  errors  of  inference  will  result : 

(1)  The  decrease  and  the  percentage  of  decrease  are 
for  a  ten-year  period.  To  appreciate  what  the  decrease 
is,  one  should  constantly  think  in  terms  of  one  tenth  of 
the  figures  given. 

(2)  The  decrease  is  in  considerable  measure  due  to  the 
high  rate  of  mortality  in  the  older  groups.  If  compulsory 
school  attendance  were  thoroughly  effective  in  every 
state,  illiteracy  would  practically  disappear  in  from 
fifty  to  sixty  years. 

(3)  Compulsory  attendance  in  many  of  the  states 
actually  decreased  illiteracy  during  the  ten  years  in 
question  by  preventing  any  considerable  additions  from 
the  groups  that  had  reached  the  age  of  ten. 

1  This  table  has  been  prepared  from  table  .30,  p.  245,  Abstract  of  the 
Census,  19 10. 


156 


THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


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REDUCTION   OF   ILLITERACY  AMONG   NATIVE-BORN      1 57 


SS8| 


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*lili|lpi*ss|||-|ll 


158  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

(4)  The  shifting  of  population  also  accounts  for  some 
decreases  and  some  increases.  Oklahoma's  increase 
in  negro  illiterates  probably  meant  small  decreases  for 
Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas.  The 
increase  of  white  illiterates  in  the  Dakotas  was  due 
to  the  influx  of  population  to  take  up  the  land.  In 
this  population,  there  were  some  illiterates.  The  num- 
bers are  small,  but  they  illustrate  the  movement  very 
clearly. 

(5)  How  many  illiterates  a  state  has  acquired  by 
immigration  and  how  many  it  has  lost  by  emigration 
cannot  be  clearly  determined.  It  is  safe  to  say,  how- 
ever, that  the  older  states  have  lost  illiterates  by  emi- 
gration while  the  newer  states  have  gained  by  immi- 
gration. Since  free  movement  from  one  state  to  another 
is  one  of  the  Constitutional  provisions,  a  National 
problem  is  here  involved  which  is  usually  overlooked. 
Industrial  opportunities  in  one  state  may  invite  the 
immigration  of  illiterates  from  other  states,  and  the 
first  state  may  be  absolutely  powerless  to  protect  itself 
from  them  no  matter  how  undesirable  they  may  be. 

(6)  The  whole  array  of  facts  shows  that  very  little 
was  done  by  the  states  for  the  reduction  of  adult  illit- 
eracy in  the  decade  under  consideration.  For  the 
most  part,  the  decrease  was  due  to  the  prevention  of 
additions  from  the  children.  If  anything  is  to  be  done 
to  remove  existing  illiteracy,  the  states  must  be  effec- 
tively stimulated  to  do  it.     Merely  to  contend  that  it  is 


REDUCTION    OF   ILLITERACY   AMONG   NATIVE-BORN       1 59 

the  duty  of  the  states  to  remove  illiteracy  will  not  bring 
it  about.  A  substantial  inducement,  equal  to  the 
Nation's  interest  in  the  matter,  is  defensible  from  every 
point  of  view. 

It  is  impossible  to  close  this  discussion  of  illiteracy 
without  a  glance  at  illiteracy  among  the  foreign-born. 
With  them,  illiteracy  also  means,  in  most  cases,  lack 
of  ability  to  understand  spoken  English.  There  are 
many  foreign-born  persons  who  are  classed  as  literates 
because,  although  they  do  not  understand  spoken  Eng- 
lish or  printed  English,  they  can  read  and  write  in  their 
mother  tongue. 

We  have  already  massed  the  facts  regarding  illiteracy 
among  the  native-born.  With  this  increase  or  decrease 
as  a  starting  point,  we  may  set  up  the  facts  for  the 
foreign-born  illiterates  for  each  state,  noting  whether 
there  has  been  an  increase  or  decrease.  From  this  is 
derived  the  total  increase  or  decrease  for  each  state. 
Then  from  total  increases  or  decreases  in  the  decade 
we  get  a  final  column  that  shows  what  the  several  states 
have  done  toward  solving  the  problem  of  illiteracy  dur- 
ing the  decade.  This  table  has  been  prepared  from  data 
found  on  page  245,  Abstract  of  the  Census,  1919. 


i6o 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


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REDUCTION   OF   ILLITERACY   AMONG   NATIVE-BORN      l6l 


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***  n  OO   O 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Americanization 

The  facts  that  have  just  been  considered  relative  to 
the  illiterate  foreign-born  population  are  only  one  aspect 
of  the  Americanization  problem.  We  know  what  a 
native-born  illiterate  is  in  our  country.  If  we 
transplant  him  imaginatively  into  a  Spanish-speaking 
country,  we  can  see  what  little  chance  he  would  have  to 
discharge  the  common  duties  of  citizenship.  And  yet, 
in  1910,  we  had  in  this  country  1,650,361  foreign-born 
persons  over  ten  years  of  age  who  could  not  write  in 
any  language.  These  people  present  a  triple  problem. 
To  teach  them  to  read,  write,  and  speak  the  English 
language  is  one  part  of  it.  To  give  them  that  elementary 
body  of  common  knowledge  which  most  children  by  the 
age  of  ten  get  through  school  life,  schoolbooks,  and 
teachers  is  another  aspect  of  the  problem.  To  give 
them  the  basal  ideas  and  ideals  necessary  for  partici- 
pation in  our  social  life  —  with  its  political  responsi- 
bilities —  is  the  final  aspect  of  the  problem. 

To  the  group  just  considered  must  be  added  those 
foreign-born  persons  "literate"  in  their  own  language 
but  unable  to  speak  or  read  English,  whose  ideas  of 
American  life  beyond  their  own  neighborhood  are  gained 
from  the  foreign-language  press  —  with  all  the  possibil- 

162 


AMERICANIZATION  1 63 

ities  for  the  spread  of  un-American  standards  that  this 
medium  implies.  This  group  is  probably  larger  than 
the  one  previously  considered. 

There  are  many  points  of  view  from  which  the  problem 
can  be  considered.  The  industrial  world  complains 
that  these  men  cannot  understand  directions  when  given 
orally  or  displayed  on  printed  placards;  consequently, 
they  fail  to  catch  the  spirit  of  the  shop  or  industry,  — 
they  get  in  the  way,  they  are  much  more  likely  to  be 
injured,  they  are  much  more  likely  to  quit  work  because 
of  trivial  misunderstandings.  From  a  community  stand- 
point, these  people  are  apart  from,  instead  of  a  part  of,  its 
life.  In  their  segregation,  they  remain  impervious  to 
community  ideals  and  community  activities.  Often, 
because  they  do  not  understand,  they  grow  sensitive 
and  sometimes  even  resentful.  Thus  they  are  peculiarly 
liable  to  exploitation  at  the  hands  both  of  unscrupulous 
employers  and  of  designing  individuals  who,  to  accom- 
plish their  own  ends  and  purposes,  misrepresent  the  at- 
titude and  intent  of  the  community  or  industry,  or  of  the 
state  or  Federal  Government  toward  the  conditions  that 
affect  them  most  vitally.  We  became  aware  of  the  extent 
of  radical  propaganda  during  the  war,  —  but  it  has  been 
going  on,  for  one  purpose  or  another,  for  years  ; l  and  it 

1  Its  real  dangers  came,  of  course,  with  the  shifting  of  the  source  of 
immigration  from  Northern  and  Western  Europe  to  Southeastern 
Europe.  In  so  far  as  we  are  informed  the  first  serious  recognition  of 
the  peril  in  this  immigration  came  in  an  article  by  Henry  Rood  in  The 
Forum,  Sept.,  1892,  p.  no. 


1 64  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

will  continue  as  long  as  we  have  this  mass  of  ignorant, 
non-English-speaking  people  in  this  country. 

There  is  no  advantage  to  be  gained  from  an  analysis  of 
the  reasons  that  brought  these  aliens  to  our  country.  It 
is  sufficient  to  know  that  they  are  here  under  the  sanction 
of  the  Federal  law.  They  are,  until  they  become  natural- 
ized, denizens  of  the  country,  as  free  as  are  the  native- 
born  citizens  to  go  where  they  will.  In  general,  they  stay 
near  the  port  of  debarkation.  Many  of  them  plan  to 
remain  in  America  only  a  short  time,  —  until  they 
have  made  some  money.  Industrial  plants  have  taken 
these  men  for  the  rough,  unskilled  work  because  they 
were  cheaper  than  other  labor ;  indeed,  it  was  prac- 
tically impossible,  in  many  cases,  to  get  any  other  kind 
of  labor.  The  Nation  has  put  an  end  to  the  importation 
of  laborers  under  contract,  —  but  this  well-intentioned 
legislation  is  far  from  proof  against  circumvention. 

The  ostensible  theory  underlying  the  admission  of 
foreigners  to  this  country  implies  the  assumption  that 
they  will  become  incorporated  into  our  social  and 
political  life.  The  actual  sanction  in  recent  years  has 
been  the  need  of  cheap  labor.  Our  fine  phrases  anent 
the  "land  of  opportunity"  have  lacked  the  note  of 
sincerity  and  the  newcomers  have  reacted  as  human 
beings  might  be  expected  to  react  to  a  palpably  hollow 
stimulus. 

The  Federal  Government  has  prescribed  the  manner 
and  method  of  acquiring  citizenship  and  has  bestowed 


AMERICANIZATION  1 65 

citizenship  when  applicants  have  met  its  requirements. 
States,  also,  have  made  laws  on  the  same  subject.  But 
the  language  difficulty  has  been  so  great  that  relatively- 
few  of  the  more  recently  arrived  immigrants  have  become 
citizens.  With  a  few  notable  exceptions,  the  employer 
has  not  felt  that  he  should  bear  the  expense  of  teaching 
these  foreigners  the  English  language  and  the  ideals  of 
American  citizenship.  He  was  engaged  in  a  competi- 
tive industry,  —  not  in  the  altruistic  work  of  educating 
foreigners.  The  Church  has  been  busy  with  its  own 
problems,  and  has  felt  that  Americanization  was  the 
function  of  some  other  institution.  The  public  school 
is  practically  the  only  agency  that  has  done  anything  at 
all.  It  has  done  much  indirectly  through  its  influence 
upon  the  immigrant's  children.  In  a  direct  and  system- 
atic way,  it  has  done  most  through  night  schools,  espe- 
cially in  the  large  cities.  In  the  smaller  cities,  and  in  the 
villages  and  hamlets  surrounding  mills  and  mines,  com- 
paratively little  has  been  even  attempted  except  in  spo- 
radic instances. 

The  reason  why  we  have  done  so  little  in  the  aggregate 
for  the  education  of  the  immigrant  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  states  have  not  required  it  to  be  done.  Since  so  large 
a  part  of  the  foreign-born  population  has  been  transient, 
—  now  here,  now  there,  —  and  because  it  would  be  so 
expensive  to  cope  with  the  problem,  the  states  have  felt 
that  it  was  defensible  to  fall  back  on  generalities.  So 
far  as  the  observance  of  law  and  order  was  concerned, 


i66 


THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


the  police  power  of  the  state  was  invoked,  —  even  to 
the  creation  of  a  mounted  state  police.  In  many- 
quarters,  too,  it  was  felt  that  it  was  hopeless  to  attempt 
to  teach  English  and  citizenship  to  adult  foreigners.  The 
old  saw,  "It  is  hard  to  teach  an  old  dog  new  tricks," 
was  a  frequent  excuse  for  an  inexcusable  neglect.  If 
the  children  of  the  foreign-born  were  put  into  the  public 
school,  it  seemed  the  best  that  could  be  done.  At  least, 
we  consoled  ourselves  with  some  such  philosophy. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  we  did  not  know  how 
rapidly  this  foreign-born  population  was  increasing. 
The  census  figures  for  the  total  foreign-born  population 
for  six  decades  are  astounding  to  any  one  who  sees  them 
for  the  first  time.  The  following  tabulation  l  shows  the 
total  foreign-born  in  the  United  States  at  decennial 
periods  and  the  increase  over  the  preceding  decade. 


i860 
1870 
1880 
1890 
1900 
1910 


Foreign-born  Population 


4,188,058 
5.567,229 
6,679,943 
9,249,56o 
10,341,276 
13,515,886 


Increase  in  io-year 
Periods 


1,379,171 
1,112,714 

2,569,617 
1,091,716 
3,174,610 


Not  only  was  there  this  enormous  increase,  but  the 
immigration  from  countries  in  which  public  educational 
facilities  were  at  a  low  ebb  increased  from  1900  to  1910 


S»e  table,  p.  190,  Abstract  of  the  Census,  1910. 


AMERICANIZATION  1 67 

at  an  enormous  rate.  In  the  decade  just  quoted,  there 
was  a  loss  of  275,911  from  Northwestern  Europe  and  an 
increase  of  3,215,689  from  Southern  and  Eastern  Europe, 
— Russia  showing  an  increase  of  1,024,680.  This  enor- 
mous influx  from  countries  in  which  public  education  does 
not  exist  and  in  which  social  and  political  ideals  are  so  dif- 
ferent from  our  own  has  given  a  new  aspect  to  the  prob- 
lem of  dealing  with  the  immigrant.  The  matter  of  self- 
preservation  has  entered  into  the  problem  as  well  as 
our  duty  to  those  to  whom  educational  opportunity- 
has  been  denied.  The  gentle  process  of  assimilation  can 
not  go  on  under  such  conditions  unless  a  special  effort 
is  made.  Machinery  is  necessary  to  cope  with  such 
problems.  Of  the  13,515,886  foreign-born,  12,944,529, 
or  95.7  per  cent,  were  ten  years  of  age  or  over  in 
1910. 

Inability  to  speak  English  is  only  a  partial  measure  of 
the  need  for  Americanization.  One  may  be  able  to  speak 
English  "  in  ordinary  conversation  "  and  yet  not  have 
that  degree  of  literacy  which  means  ability  to  comprehend 
the  fundamental  principles  of  our  government.  The 
need  for  Americanization  work,  therefore,  is  even  greater 
than  the  inability  to  speak  English  in  ordinary  conver- 
sation would  indicate. 

The  facts  regarding  inability  to  speak  English  are  set 
forth  in  Volume  I  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  pp.  1 265-1 283. 
In  the  Appendix  (p.  353)  will  be  found  a  summary  of 
these  facts  for  each  division  and  state.     It  is  sufficient 


1 68  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

here  to  remark  that,  in  1910,  nearly  three  millions,  or 
22.8  per  cent,  of  the  foreign-born  whites  ten  years  of  age 
and  over  were  unable  to  speak  English.  In  1900,  the 
corresponding  figure  stood  at  1,217,280.  The  increase 
of  foreign-born  whites  ten  years  of  age  and  over  unable 
to  speak  English  was,  for  the  ten  years  from  1900  to 
1910,  1,735,731.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the 
Americanization  problem  more  than  doubled  in  ten 
years,  —  the  increase  referred  to  is  142.5  per  cent.  This 
increase,  so  far  as  absolute  numbers  is  concerned,  was 
largely  localized  in  the  great  industrial  states,  and  was 
made  up,  in  large  measure,  of  those  who  came  from 
Southern  and  Southeastern  Europe. 

The  Smith-Towner  Bill  assumes  that  the  Ameri- 
canization of  the  foreign-born  immigrant  is  a  matter  of 
great  importance  to  our  country.  The  actual  work 
must,  of  course,  be  done  by  state  agencies.  The  bill 
seeks  to  stimulate  the  states  to  undertake  this  work. 
Congress  has  no  power  to  force  the  states  to  undertake 
it,  and  even  if  it  did  have  the  power,  it  would  still 
remain  true  that  voluntary  cooperation  is  always  better 
than  coercion. 

The  question,  then,  is  not  primarily  one  of  the  Consti- 
tutional right  of  Congress  to  expend  money  under  the 
terms  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill.  That  right  is  clear. 
The  question  is  one  of  expediency.  If  Congress  does  not 
do  something,  what  will  happen  with  regard  to  Ameri- 
canization?   If  Congress  enacts  the  Smith-Towner  Bill 


AMERICANIZATION  1 69 

into  law,  what  will  happen  with  regard  to  Amer- 
icanization ? 

It  is  practically  certain  that  not  all,  or  even  a  respect- 
able fraction  of  the  states,  will  deal  adequately  with  the 
Americanization  problem  wholly  of  their  own  initiative, 
and  with  their  own  funds.  This  judgment  is  based  on 
what  the  states  have  already  done  with  regard  to  this 
particular  problem,  the  problem  of  illiteracy,  physical 
and  health  education,  the  preparation  of  teachers,  and 
the  equalization  of  educational  opportunities.  It  is  also 
based  on  the  workings  of  the  Smith-Hughes  Act  regard- 
ing vocational  education,  the  Morrill  and  related  acts 
regarding  technical  education,  the  land  grants  for  state 
universities,  and  the  grant  of  Lot  No.  16.  There  is 
not  only  the  inducement  which  the  money  grant  sets  up ; 
there  is  also  the  appeal  to  pride  in  a  cooperative  move- 
ment of  great  worth  and  magnitude.  If  the  Smith- 
Towner  Bill  is  enacted  into  law,  the  states  that  have 
large  groups  of  immigrants  will  work  out  plans  for  the 
Americanization  of  these  people.  A  social  machinery 
will  be  created  and  the  problem  will  be  solved  within  a 
decade. 

As  in  the  case  of  reducing  illiteracy,  it  is  not  wise  for 
Congress  to  specify  in  great  detail  just  how  this  work  of 
Americanization  shall  be  done.  There  is  no  body  of 
accumulated  experience  that  points  infallibly  to  the  best 
procedure.  The  states,  once  entered  upon  the  work, 
will  be  anxious  to  find  the  best  ways  of  doing  it,  and 


170  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

wholesome  rivalry  will  have  its  good  results.  The  states 
are  more  competent  to  construct  and  manage  the  neces- 
sary machinery  for  the  solution  of  this  problem  than  is 
the  National  Government,  because  the  latter  has  no 
public-school  system  *  under  its  control  and  has  had  no 
significant  experience  in  creating  one  for  a  special  pur- 
pose. Nor  is  it  well  to  ask  the  states  to  accept  a  long 
list  of  specific  limiting  conditions  in  their  acceptance  of 
the  act  itself.  There  is  nothing  but  good  faith  between 
Congress  and  the  states  in  this  or  any  other  matter  not 
covered  by  explicit  Constitutional  provisions,  and  good 
faith  does  not  require  prescriptive  details. 

It  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  states  would  undertake 
to  do  this  work  in  perfect  good  faith  knowing  that  by 
carrying  it  to  successful  completion,  the  state  would  be 
benefiting  itself  and  at  the  same  time  performing  a  dis- 
tinct and  helpful  national  service. 

The  following  tabulation  shows  the  number  of  foreign- 
born  residents  in  each  state,  the  proportion  which  this 
number  bears  to  the  total  foreign-born  population,  and 
the  apportionment  of  funds  for  immigrant  education 
under  the  terms  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill.  Each  state 
would  appropriate  for  this  purpose  a  like  amount.  Under 
the  plan  here  proposed,  the  completion  of  a  ten-year 
period  would  give  us  a  practically  complete  solution  of 
the  present  problem  of  Americanization. 

1  Excepting  those  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  Alaska,  and  among 
the  Indians. 


AMERICANIZATION 


171 


Americanization  of  Foreigners 

Number  of  Foreign-born  Immigrants  in  United  States    .     .     13,515,886 
Amount  of  Federal  Aid  per  Capita  under  Terms  of  Bill .     .  $0,555 


Number  of 

Foreign-born 

in  United 

States  1910 


Per  Cent  of 
Total  Foreign- 


Allotment  for 

Americanization, 

Section  Nine 


Continental  United  States 

North  Atlantic  Division 

North  Central  Division 

South  Atlantic  Division 

South  Central  Division 

Western  Division     .     . 

Total 

North  Atlantic  Division: 

Maine 

New  Hampshire .     .     . 

Vermont 

Massachusetts     .     .     . 

Rhode  Island      .     .     . 

Connecticut    .... 

New  York 

New  Jersey     .... 

Pennsylvania  .  .  . 
North  Central  Division: 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota       .... 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North  Dakota     .     .     . 

South  Dakota     .     .     . 

Nebraska 

Kansas 

South  Atlantic  Division: 

Delaware 

Maryland 

District  of  Columbia    . 

Virginia 

West  Virginia   .  .  . 


13,515,886 

6,676,283 

4,690,461 

299,994 

440,017 

1,409,131 

13,515,886 

110,562 
96,667 
49,921 

1.059,245 
179,141 

329,574 
2,748,011 

660,788 
1,442,374 

598,374 
159,663 
1,205,314 
597,550 
512,865 
543,595 
273,765 
229,779 
156,654 
100,790 
176,662 
i35,45o 

17,492 

104,944 
24,902 

27,057 

57,2i8 


100.0000 

49-3958 

34.7033 

2.2196 

3.2556 

10.4257 

100.0000 

.8180 

.7152 

•3693 

7.8370 

1-3254 

2.4384 

20.3317 

4.8899 

10.6716 

4.4271 
1.1812 
8.9177 
4.4210 

3-7945 
4.0218 
2.0255 
1.7000 
1. 1590 
•  7457 
1.3070 
1. 002 1 

.1294 
.7764 
.1842 
.2008 
•4233 


$7,500,000.00 

3,705,337.07 

2,603,205.86 

166,496.67 

244,209.43 

782,067.70 

$7,501,316.73 

61,361.91 
53,650.18 
27,706.15 

587,880.98 
99,423.26 

182,913.57 
1,525,146.11 

366,737.34 
800,517.57 

332,097.57 
88,612.97 
668,949.27 
331,640.25 
284,640.07 
301,695.23 
i5i,939.58 
127,527.34 
86,942.97 

55,938.45 
98,047.41 

75,174-75 

9,708.06 
58,243.92 
13,820.61 
15,016.64 
31,755-99 


172  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

Americanization  of  Foreigners  —  Continued 


South  Atlantic  Division 
Continued 

North  Carolina   .     . 

South  Carolina    .     . 

Georgia      .... 

Florida 

South  Central  Division: 

Kentucky  .... 

Tennessee  .... 

Alabama    .... 

Mississippi      .     .     . 

Louisiana  .... 

Texas    

Arkansas    .... 

Oklahoma  .... 
Western  Division: 

Montana    .... 

Wyoming  .... 

Colorado    .... 

New  Mexico   .     .     . 

Arizona      .... 

Utah 

Nevada      .... 

Idaho     

Washington    .     .     . 

Oregon  

California  .... 


Number  or 

Foreign-born 

in  Unitkd 

States  1910 


6,092 
6,179 

15,477 
40,633 

40,162 
18,607 
19,286 
9,770 
52,766 
241,938 
17,046 
40,442 

94,713 

29,020 

129,587 

23,146 

48,765 

65,822 

19,691 

42,578 

256,241 

113,136 

586,432 


Per  Cent  of 
Total  Foreign- 
born 


•0457 
•0457 
•"45 
.3006 

.3971 
.1376 
.1426 
.0722 

•3093 

1.7900 
.1261 
.2992 

.7007 
.2147 
•9587 
.1712 
.3607 


•1456 
•3150 

1.8958 
•8370 

4-3388 


Allotment  for 

Americanization, 

Section  Nine 


$3,381.06 
3,429-35 
8,589.73 

22,551-31 

22,289.91 
10,326.88 
10,703.73 
5,422.35 
29,285.13 

134,275-59 
9,46b.53 
22,445.31 

52,565-72 
16,106.10 
71,920.79 
12,846.03 
27,064.57 
36,531.21 
10,928.50 

23,630.79 
142,213.75 

62,790.48 
325,469.76 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Physical  and  Health  Education 

No  lessons  of  the  war  have  pointed  more  compellingly 
to  educational  weaknesses  than  have  the  rejections  from 
the  service  and  the  assignments  to  limited  service  because 
of  physical  disability.  The  Nation  has  become  clearly 
aware  of  the  loss  of  man-power  in  war  due  to  these 
factors.  It  should  see  as  clearly  the  enormous  loss 
of  man-power  from  the  same  causes  during  peace- 
times, —  a  loss  the  more  regrettable  in  that  much  if  not 
most  of  it  is  easily  avoidable.  From  an  economic  stand- 
point, the  reduction  of  the  wastage  due  to  physical  dis- 
ability is  a  policy  of  both  wisdom  and  expediency. 
But,  beyond  this  economic  aspect  of  the  matter,  there 
is  the  far  more  important  aspect  of  human  happiness 
and  all  the  social  consequences  that  are  intimately 
bound  up  with  it. 

The  report  of  the  Surgeon  General  contains  the  follow- 
ing data  concerning  limited  service.  In  reading  the  table 
one  should  keep  constantly  in  mind  that  there  were,  in 
many  states,  large  numbers  exempted  on  account  of  oc- 
cupations who  were  also  physically  unfit  for  military  life 

173 


174  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

or  fit  only  for  limited  service.  The  proportions  may 
consequently  be  considered  as  representing  a  "cross 
section"  of  our  male  population  between  the  ages  of 
twenty-one  and  thirty-one. 

Total  number  of  men  examined  physically  Dec.  15,  191 7,  to 

Sept.  11,  1918 3,208,446 

Number  fully  qualified 2,259,027 

Number  disqualified  totally  or  partially 949>4i9 

Per  cent  disqualified  totally  or  partially 29.59  ' 

The  following  table,  made  from  the  one  given  on 
page  417  of  the  Second  Report  of  the  Provost  Marshal 
General,  follows  the  general  arrangement  of  the  tables 
already  presented  in  this  book,  so  that  regional  com- 
parisons may  be  easily  made. 

The  facts  of  the  table  probably  give  a  fairly  represent- 
ative idea  of  the  variations  from  physical  fitness  among 
the  total  population.  Some  additional  facts  from  recent 
surveys  may  serve  to  reenforce  the  point.  The  Alabama 
Survey,  already  quoted,  has  an  excellent  statement  of 
the  negative  aspects  of  health. 

Malaria  in  Alabama  averages  13,000  cases  constantly.2 
If  the  earning  power  be  estimated  at  only  $250  per 
person,  the  annual  loss  is  $3,250,000  from  malaria  alone. 
The  death  rate  from  typhoid  fever  in  191 7  was  38.2  per 
100,000,  — a  rate  almost  three  times  as  high  as  in  those 
portions  of  the  United  States  which  are  in  the  "regis- 

1  Second  Report  of  the  Provost  Marshal  General,  1919,  p.  153. 
1  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  1919  Bulletin,  No.  41,  p.  302. 


PHYSICAL   AND   HEALTH   EDUCATION 


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176 


THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


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PHYSICAL  AND   HEALTH   EDUCATION 


177 


tration  area."1  One  child  out  of  every  four  of  school 
age  (6  to  20)  is  suffering  from  hookworm  in  some  degree. 
Of  the  members  of  the  Alabama  National  Guard  that 
served  on  the  Mexican  border,  sixty  per  cent  were 
affected  with  hookworm.  The  Rockefeller  Sanitary 
Commission,  from  1910  to  1915,  found  23,403  individ- 
uals infested  with  hookworm  out  of  a  total  of  53,643 
persons  examined.2 

The  Survey  Commission  had  one  hundred  white 
school  children  and  fifty  colored  children  examined  in 
each  county  of  Alabama,  —  with  the  following  results : 


Pee  Cent  Affected  with 

White 

Colored 

4.  Hookworm  "Suspects"      .     .     . 

5.  Enlarged  glands 

SO 
48 
29 
26 
21 

56 
40 
22 
24 
32 

The  situation  is  probably  no  worse  and  no  better  in 
Alabama  than  in  other  states  except  those  in  which 
health  instruction  has  been  carried  on  for  some  time 
and  in  which  health  inspection  is  general  in  the  schools. 
There  are  defects  that  come  naturally  and  are  easily 
remedied,  such  as  decaying  teeth  and  wax  in  the  ears. 

1  The  registration  area  includes  44  per  cent  of  the  total  area  and 
70.2  per  cent  of  the  total  population,  —  including  all  states  that  are  hav- 
ing 90  per  cent  or  more  of  all  deaths  systematically  reported  in  accord- 
ance with  state  laws. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  303. 

N 


178  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

Defects  of  vision  and  hearing,  too,  are  not  difficult  to 
identify  and  usually  may  be  alleviated,  if  not  entirely 
remedied,  by  careful  treatment. 

There  is  needed,  however,  a  nation-wide  health  cam- 
paign which  will  carry  the  knowledge  of  health  conditions 
to  everybody,  —  in  school  and  out  of  school.  With 
the  results  of  such  a  campaign  as  a  basis,  the  work  can 
be  carried  on  through  the  schools  and  reach  practically 
everybody.  In  a  certain  Pennsylvania  county,  the  Red 
Cross  organization  is  spending  a  portion  of  the  funds 
remaining  from  its  war  expenditures  in  employing  health 
teachers  who  instruct  the  wives  of  the  foreigners  in  the 
simplest  elements  of  the  care  of  the  health.  The  employ- 
ing companies,  the  county,  and  the  state  have  not 
as  yet  undertaken  this  greatly  needed  work,  and  there 
is  no  better  way  in  which  the  balances  in  the  hands  of 
Red  Cross  officials  can  be  spent.  But  the  instance  is 
sporadic  and  local  while  the  need  is  universal. 

The  health  knowledge  to  which  reference  has  been 
made  is  most  valuable,  but  physical  fitness  means 
much  more  than  the  mere  absence  of  disease.  Health 
is  the  bodily  condition  which  results  when  each  organ 
of  the  body  separately,  and  all  organs  of  the  body  co- 
operatively, fulfill  their  functions  normally  and  prop- 
erly. The  only  dependable  factor  in  securing  this 
desirable  result  is  systematic  physical  exercise.  In  this 
way  only  can  bodily  vigor  and  endurance  as  well  as 
muscular   strength   and   skill   be   assured.     When   this 


PHYSICAL  AND  HEALTH   EDUCATION  1 79 

physical  exercise  is  embodied  in  games,  a  host  of  social 
and  moral  benefits  follow  in  its  train.  These  exercises 
and  games  are  not  merely  diversion  or  amusement  or 
recreation ;  —  they  are  the  means  by  which  the  body 
comes  into  its  own  and  by  which  bodily  tone  becomes 
transmuted  into  mental  tone. 

When  one  contemplates  the  beneficent  results  that 
would  come  to  all  from  comprehensive  programs  of 
physical  and  health  education  in  every  community  of 
the  country,  —  the  increased  economic  efficiency,  the 
reduction  of  pain  and  suffering,  the  positive  happiness 
and  enjoyment,  and  the  fine  feeling  of  fitness  and  poise 
that  would  replace  the  present  lassitude  and  lack  of  self- 
control,  —  one  cannot  reasonably  oppose  a  movement 
that  promises  to  secure  these  ends.  No  beneficent 
potentate  or  fairy  will  do  these  things  for  us.  We  must 
do  them  for  ourselves.  We  must  unify  present  scattered 
efforts,  generalize  them,  organize  and  extend  them  to 
include  every  public  school  and  every  local  community. 
The  collective,  cooperative  action  which  we  put  forth 
in  the  recent  war  is  the  only  type  of  action  adequate 
to  such  an  undertaking. 

The  Smith-Towner  Bill  provides  for  such  a  collective, 
cooperative  effort.  The  bill  proposes  that  twenty 
million  dollars  annually  shall  be  distributed  from  the 
Federal  Treasury  to  the  states  on  the  basis  of  population, 
and  that  each  state  shall  raise  an  amount  equal  to  its 
allotment  to  be  spent  — 


I  So  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

"For  physical  education  and  instruction  in  the  principles  of 
health  and  sanitation,  and  for  providing  school  nurses,  school  den- 
tal clinics,  and  otherwise  promoting  physical  and  mental  welfare." 

The  states  are  wisely  left  free  to  make  their  own 
programs  for  realizing  these  purposes.  Rhode  Island 
is  almost  entirely  urban,  —  Texas  is  almost  entirely 
rural.  The  same  plan  of  organization  for  physical  and 
health  education  would  not  succeed  equally  well  in  both 
states.  Each  state,  however,  under  the  stimulus  of  na- 
tional interest  and  national  aid  would  sincerely  and  faith- 
fully go  to  work  in  an  effective  way,  seeking  the  best  for 
its  own  people  and  thus  securing  the  best  for  the  Nation. 

There  are  several  states  and  many  cities  that  are  now 
doing  excellent  work  in  physical  and  health  education. 
The  provisions  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  would  not 
interfere  with  these  present  efforts.  On  the  contrary, 
the  added  support  that  it  proposes  would  make  them 
more  effective.  The  adoption  of  this  measure  would  ex- 
tend these  forms  of  education  to  all  states  and  to  every 
community.  At  the  present  time  the  United  States 
Government  is  doing  much  to  promote  health  in  several 
of  the  states.  It  is  finding  out  facts  and  giving  them 
publicity;  it  is  advising  and  urging  communities  and 
states  to  put  effective  programs  of  physical  and  health  ed- 
ucation into  operation.  It  does  not  have  the  prestige  or 
influence  which  it  would  have  if  it  were  actually  co- 
operating in  a  financial  way  with  the  several  states  and 
working  with  them  for  the  advancement  and  interest 


PHYSICAL  AND   HEALTH  EDUCATION 


181 


and  welfare  of  the  individual,  the  family,  the  community, 
the  state,  and  the  nation,  as  these  units  are  inextricably 
bound  up  with  physical  development  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  health. 


Promotion  of  Physical  and  Health  Education  and  Recreation 

Population  of  United  States  in  iqio 91,972,266 

Allotment  under  terms  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  per  capita  $.2175 


Continental  United  States    . 

North  Atlantic  Division 

North  Central  Division  . 

South  Atlantic  Division 

South  Central  Division  . 

Western  Division  .     .     . 

Total 

North  Atlantic  Division: 

Maine 

New  Hampshire    .     .     . 

Vermont 

Massachusetts  .     .     .     . 

Rhode  Island    .     .     .     . 

Connecticut      .     .     .     . 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania  .  .  .  . 
North  Central  Division: 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota    ...... 

Iowa 

Missouri       

North  Dakota  ... 

South  Dakota  .     .     . 

Nebraska      .... 

Kansas 


Population  of  the 

United  States 

for  1910 


91,972,266 
25,868,573 
29,888,542 
12,194,895 

17,194,435 

6,825,821 

91,972,266 

742,371 

430,572 

355,956 

3,366,416 

542,610 

i,H4,756 

9,113,614 

2,537,167 

7,665,111 

4,767,121 
2,700,876 

5,638,591 
2,810,173 
2,333,860 
2,075,708 
2,224,771 
3,293,335 
577,056 
583,888 
1,192,214 
1,690,949 


Amount  of  Federal 

Aid  under  Terms  of 

Act 


$20,000,000.00 
5,626,414.63 
6,500,757.88 
2,652,389.66 
3,739,789-6l 
1,484,616.06 
20,003,967.84 

161,465.69 

93,649.41 

77,420.43 

732,195.48 

118,017.68 

242,459.43 

1,982,211.05 

551,833.82 

1,667,161.64 

1,036,848.82 
587,440.53 

1,226,393.54 
611,212.63 
507,614.55 
451,466.49 
483,887.69 
716,300.36 
125,509.68 
126,995.64 
259,306.54 
367,781.41 


182 


THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


Promotion  of  Physical  and  Health  Education  and 
Recreation  —  Continued 


Population  of  the 

Amount  of  Federal 

United  States 

Aid  under  Terms  of 

for  1910 

Act 

202,322 

44,005.04 

1,295,346 

281,737-75 

331,069 

72,007.51 

2,061,612 

448,400.61 

1,221,119 

265,593-38 

2,206,287 

479,867.42 

1,515,400 

329,599-50 

2,609,121 

567,483.82 

752,619 

163,694.63 

2,289,905 

498,054.34 

2,184,789 

475,191.61 

2,138,093 

465,035.23 

l,797,"4 

390,872.30 

1,656,388 

360,264.39 

3,896,542 

847,497-88 

1,574,449 

342,442.65 

i,657,iSS 

360,431.21 

376,053 

81,791.52 

145,965 

31,747-39 

799,024 

i73,787-72 

327,301 

71,187.97 

204,354 

44,446.99 

373,351 

81,203.84 

81,875 

17,807.81 

325,594 

70,816.69 

1,141,990 

248,382.83 

672,765 

146,326.39 

2,377,549 

517,116.91 

South  Atlantic  Division. 

Delaware      .     .     . 

Maryland     .     .     . 

District  of  Columbia 

Virginia   .... 

West  Virginia   .     . 

North  Carolina 

South  Carolina 

Georgia    .... 

Florida  .... 
South  Central  Division: 

Kentucky     .     .     . 

Tennessee     .     .     . 

Alabama  .... 

Mississippi   .     .     . 

Louisiana     .     .     . 

Texas 

Arkansas      .     .     . 

Oklahoma  .  .  . 
Western  Division: 

Montana      .     .     . 

Wyoming     .     .     . 

Colorado .... 

New  Mexico     .     . 

Arizona    .... 

Utah 

Nevada    .... 

Idaho  

Washington .     .     . 

Oregon     .... 

California     ... 


The  preceding  table  shows  the  allotments  to  the 
several  states,  on  the  basis  of  population,  of  twenty- 
million  dollars  annually.  The  census  of  1920  will  show 
changes  in  population,  but  probably  not  many  radical 


PHYSICAL  AND  HEALTH  EDUCATION       1 83 

changes  in  percentages  of  population.  Each  allotment 
is  to  be  matched  by  the  state;  hence  there  will  be 
forty  million  dollars  available  for  this  work.  With 
this  sum,  so  much  more  can  be  done  than  has  ever  been 
done  before  in  this  field  that  the  physical  strength  of 
the  Nation  could  easily  be  doubled  or  even  trebled 
within  a  decade.  If  the  program  is  left  to  local  initiative 
or  to  unaided  and  unstimulated  state  action,  equivalent 
results  would  necessarily  be  delayed,  perhaps  for  a 
century. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

The  Weakest  Links 
a.  the  rural  and  village  schools 

Illiteracy,  alienism,  and  physical  and  health  defi- 
ciencies have  all  revealed  themselves  as  national  handi- 
caps, due  in  large  part  to  the  failure  of  state  and  local 
education  to  meet  adequately  the  Nation's  needs.  If, 
however,  the  Nation  is  at  all  concerned  with  finding 
remedies  for  these  defects,  it  must  go  behind  superficial 
conditions  and  seek  fundamental  causes.  Measures 
that  fail  to  reach  the  roots  of  these  evils  cannot  solve 
the  Nation's  problem. 

There  are  two  outstanding  sources  of  weakness  in 
American  education  upon  the  correction  of  which  the 
full  effectiveness  of  every  more  limited  program  for 
reform  inevitably  depends.  Although  closely  related 
to  one  another  these  two  sources  of  weakness  must  be 
considered  separately,  for  to  remedy  them  will  require 
two  distinct,  though  still  related,  programs.  The  two 
"weakest  links"  in  the  chain  of  American  education 
are  (i)  the  almost  total  inadequacy  of  the  rural- 
school  system  in  every  state  of  the  Union,  and  (2)  the 
low  status  of  teaching  as  a  profession  and  the  reflection 

184 


THE   WEAKEST  LINKS  185 

of  this  low  status  in  the  inadequacy  of  the  existing 
agencies  for  the  preparation  of  teachers. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  AND  DIFFICULTIES  OF  RURAL  EDUCATION 

The  rural-school  situation  presents,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  national  welfare,  probably  the  most  important 
and  certainly  the  most  difficult  of  all  educational  prob- 
lems. The  importance  of  the  problem  is  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  sixty  per  cent  of  the  next  generation  of 
American  voters  are  enrolled  in  the  schools  classed  as 
rural  by  the  standards  of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion.1 

Of  this  substantial  majority  of  prospective  American 
voters  enrolled  in  the  rural  schools,  it  is  clearly  predict- 
able that  five  sixths,  —  or  at  least  fifty  per  cent  of 
all  the  children  of  the  Nation,  —  will  be  limited  in  their 
educational  opportunities  to  what  these  schools  are  able 
to  provide.  No  democracy  can  intelligently  disavow  its 
concern  in  an  agency  that  determines  the  plane  upon 
which  a  clear  majority  of  its  future  citizens  are  to  think 

1  This  is  the  standard,  also,  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census.  A  rural 
community  is  one  of  2500  inhabitants  or  fewer.  The  term  rural  schools 
as  used  in  the  present  discussion  includes,  then,  not  only  one-room  and 
consolidated  schools  of  the  open  country,  but  also  the  schools  of  the 
villages  and  small  towns.  The  situation  depicted  in  the  following  pages 
would  show  itself  as  even  more  serious  if  the  schools  of  open  country 
alone  were  considered;  but  it  is  bad  enough  as  it  stands.  Generally 
speaking,  too,  the  schools  of  the  open  country  and  those  of  the  small 
centers  in  agricultural  districts  constitute  a  homogeneous  problem,  and 
may  well  be  considered  as  a  single  group. 


1 86        THE  NATION  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 

ami  feel  and  act  in  solving  their  collective  problems 
and  transacting  their  collective  business.  Humble  as 
the  rural  school  may  be  as  a  unit,  it  is  far  from  humble 
as  a  type.  In  the  aggregate  of  its  influence  upon  the 
Nation,  indeed,  it  transcends  in  importance  the  greatest 
of  our  universities. 

The  difficulty  of  the  rural-school  problem  is  partly  the 
product  of  external  forces  and  factors  and  partly  due 
to  the  inherent  character  of  the  rural  school.  Of  the 
external  forces  and  factors  that  complicate  the  situation 
the  two  most  important  are  the  generally  low  status 
of  public-school  teaching  as  a  calling  and  the  "neighbor- 
hood "  tradition  of  educational  responsibility.  The 
former  will  be  discussed  in  Chapters  XVIII  and  XX; 
the  latter,  —  the  sinister  influence  of  extreme  localism 
in  education,  —  will  be  an  important  theme  of  Chapter 
XIX. 

Our  present  concern,  then,  is  with  the  inherent  diffi- 
culties of  rural-school  teaching.  Schools  in  sparsely 
settled  districts  will  always  be  handicapped  in  competing 
with  schools  in  thickly  settled  districts.  Either  the 
school  unit  must  be  small,  thus  requiring  in  a  group  or 
system  of  such  units  a  large  number  of  teachers  in  pro- 
portion to  the  pupils  enrolled ;  or,  if  the  small  units  are 
consolidated  in  central  schools,  the  expense  of  trans- 
porting pupils  must  be  met.  In  both  cases,  then,  the 
cost  of  education  will  be  high  as  compared  with  the  cost 
of  providing  the  same  opportunities  in  a  thickly  settled 


THE   WEAKEST  LINKS  187 

district.  If  to  the  bare  cost  of  instruction  there  be 
added  the  "overhead"  of  equally  competent  adminis- 
tration and  supervision,  the  discrepancies  in  relative 
per  capita  cost  become  even  wider.  As  a  result  of  this 
inherently  greater  cost  of  rural  education,  only  a 
negligible  proportion  of  school  districts  in  the  villages 
and  the  open  country  offer  educational  facilities  equal 
to  those  even  of  the  poorest  cities. 

Not  only  are  the  sparsely  settled  districts  thus  handi- 
capped, but  their  situation  is  rendered  even  more  un- 
favorable by  the  fact  that  their  per  capita  wealth  is 
almost  invariably  lower  than  that  of  the  urban  districts. 
Not  only,  therefore,  is  the  cost  of  rural  education 
greater,  but  the  resources  from  which  school  revenues 
can  be  drawn  are  much  more  meager.  Actual  figures 
revealing  the  striking  differences  in  the  taxable  wealth 
behind  each  child  in  typical  rural  and  urban  districts 
will  be  set  forth  in  Chapter  XIX. 

A  third  inherent  difficulty  of  rural  education  lies  in 
the  pronounced  individualism  of  the  average  farmer. 
His  mode  of  life  with  its  isolation  and  its  emphasis  upon 
independence  and  self-reliance  predisposes  him  to 
individualism.  He  is  likely  to  resent  interference  from 
without ;  consequently  the  enforcement  of  compulsory- 
attendance  laws  has  been  practically  ignored  in  the 
rural  districts.  Furthermore,  he  can  use  his  children 
in  the  work  of  the  farm  and  the  household  at  a  profit 
far  beyond  that  which  the  city  resident  can  gain  by 


1 88  THE    NATION    AND    THE    SCHOOLS 

similar  methods.  The  temptation  to  keep  children  out 
of  school  is  therefore  much  stronger ;  the  plea  that  this 
practice  is  justifiable  is  much  more  plausible,  much 
harder  to  prove  specious.  There  are  no  labor  unions 
to  whose  self-interest  the  enforcement  of  child-labor 
laws  is  significant.  There  are  lacking,  too,  the  large 
and  well-appointed  school  buildings  which  by  their 
very  size  and  magnificence  tend  in  the  cities  to  impress 
the  people  with  the  importance  of  education  and  with 
the  "majesty''  of  the  law  which  makes  education 
compulsory. 

The  farmer's  individualism  also  expresses  itself  in  a 
distaste,  not  only  for  paying  taxes  that  would  provide 
reasonably  high  salaries  for  teachers,  but  also  for 
having  such  salaries  paid  in  any  case.  Under  normal 
conditions  the  average  farmer's  actual  cash  income  is  not 
likely  to  be  large  and  he  does  not  like  to  see  a  young 
teacher  surpass  him  in  earning  power.  Of  course  he 
overlooks  the  fact  that  his  cash  income  often  measures 
very  fairly  his  net  profits  from  the  gross  of  which  not 
only  his  operating  expenses  but  the  cost  of  his  own  living 
and  the  support  of  his  family  have  been  deducted.  While 
this  may  explain,  it  does  not  justify  his  attitude.  The 
present  era  of  prosperity  may,  if  it  persists,  alleviate 
some  of  the  evil  effects  of  this  attitude  —  but  there  are 
few  signs  to-day  that  the  wages  of  the  rural  teacher 
are  keeping  pace  with  the  increased  earnings  of  the 
fanner. 


THE    WEAKEST   LINKS  1 89 

A  final  inherent  handicap  under  which  rural  education 
labors  as  compared  with  urban  education  lies  in  the 
relatively  greater  difficulty  of  gaining  adequate  results 
through  teaching.  In  the  graded  urban  schools,  the 
teacher  finds  it  hard  enough  to  adapt  the  materials  of 
instruction  to  thirty  or  forty  children  of  approximately 
the  same  age  and  the  same  degree  of  attainment;  in 
the  one-room  school  these  thirty  or  forty  children 
may  represent  every  age-level  from  five  (or  even  four) 
to  eighteen  or  nineteen.  The  city  teacher  must  cover  a 
wide  range  of  subjects,  but  the  range  that  the  rural 
teacher  must  cover  is  far  more  extensive.  In  the  city, 
too,  the  distinctly  backward  children  are  now  removed 
from  the  regular  classrooms  and  taught  in  special  groups 
by  teachers  especially  prepared  for  such  work ;  in  the 
country  school  the  moron  and  the  gifted  child  sit  side 
by  side,  and  the  failure  of  the  teacher  to  do  for  the 
former  what  he  does  for  the  latter,  —  what  the  latter, 
indeed,  often  does  for  himself,  —  is  frequently  a  source 
of  unjust  but  no  less  depressing  criticism;  even  if  this 
be  lacking,  the  presence  of  the  dull  pupils  is  certain  to 
delay  the  progress  of  the  class  as  a  whole. 

Not  only  do  the  city  teachers  have  a  decided  advantage 
on  the  instructional  side  of  their  work ;  their  problems 
of  discipline  are  significantly  reduced  both  by  this  segre- 
gation of  the  mentally  deficient  children  and,  in  added 
measure,  by  the  machinery  of  supervision.  Practically 
every  city  elementary  school  has  its  supervising  prin- 


IQO  THE    NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

cipal,  —  either  a  man  or  a  mature  and  experienced 
woman,  —  one  of  whose  duties  it  is  to  aid  the  classroom 
teacher  in  the  solution  of  disciplinary  problems.  Closely- 
related  to  this  type  of  supervision  is  that  which  is  pro- 
vided in  practically  all  cities  by  the  staff  of  special 
supervisors,  —  experts  in  one  or  another  of  the  school 
subjects  who  exercise  a  more  or  less  thorough  oversight 
of  the  individual  teacher's  work.  Similar  systems  of 
supervision  are  so  rare  outside  of  the  cities  that  the 
few  counties  in  which  supervisory  staffs  have  been 
created  for  the  rural  schools  have  gained  at  once  a 
nation-wide  reputation.1  Generally  speaking,  the  rural 
teacher  must  struggle  with  his  difficulties  in  absolute 
isolation.  He  lacks  not  only  the  help  which  the  super- 
visor may  bring,  — he  is  denied  also  the  inspiration  and 
enthusiasm  that  come  most  easily  when  one  has  the 
companionship  of  fellow-workers. 

THE   RESULTS   OF   INADEQUATE   RURAL   SCHOOLS 

(a)  Adult  Illiteracy 
What  has  been  the  effect  of  weak  rural  schools  upon 
the  Nation?  This  question  has  been  definitely  an- 
swered by  the  war  revelations,  although  the  connection 
between  these  acknowledged  national  weaknesses  and 
the  inefficiency  of  the  rural  schools  has  not  as  yet  been 

1  These  counties  most  frequently  constitute  the  rural  areas  adjacent 
to  large  cities ;  in  consequence,  they  are  easily  influenced  by  the  ex- 
ample of  the  urban  schools.  Of  outstanding  reputation  in  this  connec- 
tion are  Baltimore  County,  Maryland,  and  Cook  County,  Illinois. 


THE   WEAKEST   LINKS 


IQI 


recognized  by  the  public  —  or,  indeed,  by  a  significant 
proportion  of  the  teaching  profession  itself. 

In  the  first  place,  adult  illiteracy  in  the  native-bom 
population  is  primarily  and  predominantly  a  rural  phe- 
nomenon and  its  ultimate  elimination  is  almost  exclusively 
a  rural-school  problem.  The  census  returns  for  1910 
show  this  clearly ;  the  proportion  of  native-born  illit- 
erate persons  in  the  rural  population  is  in  no  division 
of  the  country  less  than  twice  the  proportion  in  the 
urban  population,  and  usually  the  discrepancy  is  even 
greater.  This  is  shown  by  the  following  comparisons 
based  on  a  very  striking  table  of  the  Census  Report.1 


Section 

Per  Cent  of  Illiteracy 

among  Whites  Native-born 

of  Native-born  Parents 

Proportion  Rural  to  Urban 

Urban 

Rural 

New  England  .     . 
Middle  Atlantic    . 

0.5 

0.6 

1.2 
1.9 

2.4  times  as  great  in  rural 
3.1  times  as  great  in  rural 

E.  North  Central 

0.9 

2.2 

2.4  times  as  great  in  rural 

W.  North  Central 

0.8 

2.1 

2.6  times  as  great  in  rural 

South  Atlantic 

2.2 

9.8 

4.4  times  as  great  in  rural 

E.  South  Central  . 

2-4 

II. I 

4.6  times  as  great  in  rural 

W.  South  Central. 

1-4 

6.8 

4.8  times  as  great  in  rural 

Mountain    .     .     . 

0.9 

5-i 

5.6  times  as  great  in  rural 

Pacific     .... 

0.3 

0.6 

2.0  times  as  great  in  rural 

The  situation  is  even  more  clearly  revealed  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  absolute  numbers  of  adult  illiterates  in 
rural  and  urban  communities  : 


1  See  Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  p.  249. 


192 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


Native  whites  of  native  parentage    .     . 
Native  whites  of  foreign  or  mixed  parent- 
age ...     .     

Foreign-born  whites 

Negroes 

Totals 


Total  Number  of  Illiterate 
Persons  above  the  Age  of  Ten 


Rural 


1,247,978 

94,394 

477,870 

1,654,700 

3,654,700 


Urban 


130,906 

60,994 

1,172,491 

393,273 

1,757,664 


Two  thirds  of  the  total  adult  illiteracy  is  in  the  rural 
communities;  but  by  far  the  largest  proportion  of 
urban  illiteracy  is  in  the  immigrant  population,  for 
the  adults  of  which  the  public  schools  are  in  no  sense 
responsible.  The  schools  must  assume  responsibility 
for  illiteracy  among  the  native  whites,  and  of  the 
native-white  illiterates,  1,342,372  live  in  rural  com- 
munities as  against  191,900  in  urban  communities. 
This  is  in  the  ratio  of  seven  to  one.  The  total  popu- 
lation of  the  rural  districts  as  compared  with  the  urban 
districts  is  in  the  ratio  of  one  to  nine  tenths ;  hence,  for 
the  native  whites,  adult  illiteracy  is  six  times  more  prevalent 
in  rural  America  than  in  urban  America. 

In  every  section  of  the  country,  then,  the  per  cent  of 
native-born  illiterates,  whether  of  native-white,  foreign- 
born,  or  mixed  parentage,  is  substantially  higher  in  the 
rural  districts  than  in  the  urban  districts. 

The  following  table  compares  the  relative  proportions 
of  negro  and  foreign-born  illiterates  in  the  rural  and 
urban  districts  of  different  sections  of  the  country : l 
1  Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  1910,  p.  249. 


THE   WEAKEST   LINKS 


193 


Section 


New  England : 

Rural  .... 

Urban  .... 
Middle  Atlantic: 

Rural  .... 

Urban  .... 
East  North  Central: 

Rural  .... 

Urban  .... 
West  North  Central: 

Rural   .... 

Urban  .... 
South  Atlantic: 

Rural   .... 

Urban  .... 
East  South  Central: 

Rural   .... 

Urban  .... 
West  Sotdh  Central: 

Rural   .... 

Urban  .... 
Mountain : 

Rural   .... 

Urban  .... 
Pacific  : 

Rural  .... 

Urban  .... 
United  Slates: 

Rural   .... 

Urban  .... 


Per  Cent  of  Illiterate  Persons  Ten 
Years  and  Over  in  Total  Population 


Negroes 

Foreign-born  whites 

16.9 

15-3 

7-i 

13-7 

12.2 

20.3 

7.0 

14.9 

15-8 

9.6 

9-7 

10.2 

21.0 

7.0 

12.3 

8-5 

36.1 

17.2 

21.4 

11.6 

37-8 

10.9 

23.8 

9.1 

37-2 

3°- 7 

20.3 

17.9 

10.6 

14.4 

7.0 

9-7 

11.4 

II-3 

5-3 

6.0 

36.1 

13-2 

17.6 

12.6 

The  per  cent  of  negro  illiterates  is  higher  in  the  rural 
districts  than  in  the  urban  districts  in  every  section, 
and  the  relatively  high  proportions  of  negro  illiteracy 
in  the  rural  districts  of  the  North  and  West  prove  con- 
clusively that  even  this  phase  of  illiteracy  is  very  far 

from  exclusively  a  Southern  problem, 
o 


IQ4  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  per  cent  of  illiteracy  among  the  foreign-born 
whites  is  higher  in  the  rural  than  in  the  urban  com- 
munities in  every  section  except  the  two  that  comprise 
the  North  Central  states,  thus  proving  that  "Amer- 
icanization" is  not  exclusively  an  urban  problem. 

In  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  for  all  groups  com- 
bined, the  per  cent  of  illiteracy  in  the  rural  districts  is 
i o.i  as  against  5.1,  the  per  cent  in  the  urban  districts. 

Adult  illiteracy  is  due  primarily  to  inadequate  educa- 
tion before  the  age  of  ten.  For  the  native-born  popu- 
lation, the  schools  must  bear  the  responsibility  both 
for  the  condition  as  it  exists  and  for  its  correction.  The 
conclusion  is  irrefutable  that  the  rural  school  has  jailed  to 
reach  the  rural  children  in  the  measure  that  the  safety  and 
progress  of  the  Nation  demand.  The  rural-school  prob- 
lem is  essentially  and  fundamentally  a  national 
problem. 

The  comparison  between  "  white  population  native- 
born  of  native  parentage"  and  the  "white  population 
native-born  of  foreign  and  mixed  parentage"  is  most 
illuminating.  Here  the  Census  Report  shows  that  in 
so  far  as  the  prevention  of  illiteracy  is  concerned,  we 
have  done  more  than  three  times  as  well  with  the  children 
of  the  immigrant  than  with  the  children  of  the  native-born. 
The  explanation  is  not  far  to  seek:  the  immigrant 
parents  are  found  most  numerously  in  the  larger  cities 
where  the  school  facilities  are  fairly  good  and  where 
compulsory-attendance  statutes  are  usually  rigorously 


THE   WEAKEST   LINKS  1 95 

enforced ;  the  native-born  parents  are  found  most 
numerously  in  the  smaller  towns,  the  villages,  and  the 
open  country,  where  neither  of  these  conditions  is  ful- 
filled. Again  we  have  convincing  evidence  that  illit- 
eracy is  predominantly  a  rural  problem.1 

(b)   "Limited  Literacy" 

The  conditions  regarding  absolute  illiteracy  which  the 

war  brought  forcibly  to  public  attention  could  have  been 

inferred  long  before  the  war  by  any  one  who  took  the 

trouble  to  study  the  census  findings ;    but  a  menace 

that  even  those  most  familiar  with  the  situation  did 

not  suspect,  —  a  menace  far  more  significant  to   the 

Nation  than  absolute  illiteracy,  —  was  revealed  by  the 

war;  namely,  the  vast  extent  of  a  "literacy"  so  limited 

and  so  ineffective  as   to  be,   from   the   standpoint  of 

citizenship,    practically   equivalent    to   illiteracy   itself. 

As  a  means  of  determining  what  may  be  called    the 

"intelligence  quotient"  of  the  Nation,  the  Army  tests 

were  much  more  searching  than  were  the  questions  that 

the  census  enumerators  asked  in  1910.     Furthermore, 

1  The  inference  gains  added  force  from  the  following  facts :  In  three 
sections  of  the  country  illiteracy  is  proportionately  greater  among 
native-born  whites  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage  than  among  native- 
born  whites  of  native  parentage ;  two  of  these  sections,  however,  — 
the  West  South  Central  and  the  Mountain  states  —  are  exceptions  to 
the  general  rule  that  immigrants  live  in  cities;  the  immigrant  popu- 
lation here  is  more  generally  rural.  In  the  third  section,  —  the  Pacific 
states,  —  the  higher  per  cent  of  illiteracy  among  the  children  of  immi- 
grants may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  immigrants  are  largely  Orientals 
to  whom  educational  advantages  in  the  cities  have  often  been  denied. 


196  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

they  were  inescapable ;  it  was  a  very  simple  matter  to 
determine  not  only  whether  a  soldier  could  read,  but 
whether  he  could  read  a  newspaper  intelligently,  —  not 
only  whether  he  could  write  his  name,  but  whether  he 
could  write  an  intelligible  letter  home.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  secure  such  information  from  the  general 
population,  but  the  draft  furnished  a  thoroughly  rep- 
resentative group ;  whatever  was  found  to  characterize 
the  recruits  as  a  group  may  be  safely  generalized  as 
typifying  the  entire  male  population  between  the  ages 
of  twenty-one  and  thirty-one,  —  and,  in  certain  respects, 
the  entire  adult  population. 

The  Army  tests  revealed  the  fact  that  practically  one 
man  out  of  every  four  (24.9%)  was  unable  to  meet  the 
relatively  simple  test  of  intelligent  reading  and  in- 
telligible writing.  Merely  to  be  able  to  "spell  out" 
with  great  labor  the  headlines  of  the  newspaper  is 
perhaps  a  slight  advance  over  absolute  illiteracy,  but  the 
Nation  has  little  to  choose  between  the  two,  and  in 
either  case  it  has  much  at  stake.  Merely  to  be  able  to 
scrawl  one's  signature  is  certainly  an  individual  asset  as 
compared  with  a  complete  and  total  ignorance  of  writ- 
ing ;  but  this  achievement  adds  but  a  negligible  incre- 
ment to  the  individual's  value  as  a  citizen.  The  Army 
tests,  in  short,  disclosed  for  the  first  time  the  serious 
limitations  of  technical  "literacy"  as  an  index  of  educa- 
tional efficiency. 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  say  in  what  measure  the 


THE   WEAKEST  LINKS  I97 

rural  school  is  responsible  for  this  high  total  of  limited 
literacy ;  but,  in  so  far  as  the  native-born  population 
is  concerned,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  relationship 
between  rural  and  urban  communities  in  this  respect 
would  be  about  the  same  as  in  respect  to  absolute  illit- 
eracy, with  the  chances  in  favor  of  a  still  greater  advan- 
tage of  the  city  over  the  country  because  of  the  longer 
school  year,  the  better  enforcement  of  compulsory- 
attendance  laws,  and  the  much  higher  proportion  of 
trained  teachers  in  the  urban  districts. 

(c)   Physical  Deficiencies 

While  the  physical  and  health  deficiencies  that  con- 
stitute the  third  group  of  serious  national  handicaps 
are  not  so  exclusively  rural  phenomena  as  is  adult 
native-born  illiteracy,  it  still  remains  true  that  the  need 
for  educational  measures  to  correct  these  deficiencies 
is  much  more  acute  in  the  rural  districts  than  in  the 
cities.  The  published  data  regarding  the  proportion  of 
Army  rejections  in  rural  and  urban  communities  are  as 
yet  incomplete,  but  as  far  as  they  go  they  show  a  slight 
advantage  in  favor  of  the  rural  districts.  This  is  con- 
sistent with  the  census  findings  of  1910,  for  the  death  rate 
in  communities  of  10,000  inhabitants  and  fewer  was  then 
somewhat  lower  than  the  death  rate  in  the  larger  cities. 
There  was,  however,  significant  evidence,  even  in  1910,1 

1  It  was  during  the  decade,  1900-10,  that  health  administration  in 
cities  and  especially  in  city  school  systems  made  its  greatest  advances. 


i  g8 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


that  the  better  health  administration  of  the  cities  and 
the  better  health  provisions  in  the  city  schools  were 
already  operating  to  reduce  these  differences  by  lower- 
ing the  city  death  rate;  the  death  rate  in  the  rural 
districts   during   the    decade,    1900-10,    on    the    other 


1900 

1901 

COMPARATIVE  DEATH  RATES,  URBAN  AND  RURAL. 
1902     1903     1904      1905     1906     1907      1908    1909      1910     1911     1912 

1913 

1914 

20.6 

20.1 

^19.8 

// 

* 

<■ 

18.6 

/I 
II 

* 

18.3 

18.2 

18.2 

17.9 

» 

16.2 

16.9 

16.9 

16.6 

16.8 

15.2 

15.1 

15.6 

15.2 

=yt 

5«15.8 

J6.7 
lsTl^ 

15.4 

16.3 

14.4 

U.8 

V- 

.14.8 

14 

13.9 

"**•. 

13.7 

■  New  York  State,  outside  of  New  York  City. 


Figure  i. 


hand,  remained  practically  stationary.1  The  compari- 
son between  New  York  City  and  the  districts  of  New 
York  State  outside  of  the  city  is  strikingly  shown  in 
the  above  diagram.2 

1  "It  is  significant  that  for  this  considerable  proportion  of  the  country 
[the  original  registration  area],  the  registration  of  deaths  in  which  must 
be  considered  to  be  somewhat  more  complete  than  for  the -registration 
area  as  a  whole,  the  death  rate  for  the  rural  districts  shows  but  little, 
if  any,  decrease  in  the  years  and  periods  considered  [iqoi— 1905,  1906— 
1910].  Practically  the  entire  reduction  of  death-rate  in  this  group  is 
due  to  the  lower  urban  mortality."  —  Bureau  of  the  Census,  Mortality 
Statistics,  1912,  p.  12. 

*  From  T.  D.  Wood :  Health  Essentials  for  Rural-School  Children. 


THE   WEAKEST   LINKS 


I99 


If  the  two  types  of  communities  are  compared  with 
reference  to  the  health  work  undertaken  in  connection 


HEALTH  DEFECTS  OF  SCHOOL  CHILDREN 

10  15  20  25  30  35  40  45 

— I 
33.58    Teeth  Defects 


U&9 


Eye  Defects 


Malnutrition 


Enlarged  Glands 

4,78 


Ear  Defects 
4.2 


2.1 

3.5 


1 1.65 
1.5 

1.7 


Breathing  Defects 
Spinal  Curvature 
Anemia 
Unclean 
Lung  Defects 


City  and  Country 

Children  Compared 

Percentages  from  all 
Availahle  Statistics.  * 


.17 

1.25 
32 

74 
40       Heart  Disease 

8 

,       Mental  Defects 


Country 
City 


Figure  2. 


with  the  schools,   the  contrasts  are   sharp  and  clear. 
Even  the  smaller  cities  have  made  health  inspection  an 


200  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

established  feature  of  public-school  administration. 
Very  generally  they  have  their  school  nurses  and  their 
school  dental  clinics.  The  larger  cities  have  well- 
organized  staffs  of  physicians  who  devote  their  entire 
time  to  the  schools,  and  the  more  progressive  city  systems 
have  added  clinical  psychologists  to  look  after  the  pupils' 
mental  health  very  much  as  the  physicians  look  after 
their  physical  health.  Beyond  this,  there  is  the  far 
more  sanitary  construction  and  equipment  of  the  school 
buildings  in  the  cities.  Similar  work  for  the  rural 
schools,  especially  in  health  inspection,  has  been  barely 
begun  in  a  very  few  of  the  wealthier  counties.  Its 
extension  in  the  absence  of  national  stimulation  will  of 
necessity  be  slow  and  halting,  for  it  represents  an  expen- 
sive phase  of  school  administration.  Yet  the  health  of 
the  country  child  is  as  much  a  matter  of  concern  to  the 
Nation  as  is  the  health  of  the  city  child.  The  general 
situation  among  rural  children  as  compared  with  city 
children  is  shown  in  the  chart1  (see  p.  199),  which  has 
been  compiled  from  the  best  available  data. 

(d)    " Native-born  Alienism" 

It  was  pointed  out  above  that  adult  illiteracy  among 
the  foreign-born  is  predominantly  more  a  rural  prob- 
lem than  an  urban  problem  except  in  the  North  Central 
states.  The  reduction  of  immigrant  illiteracy,  of  course, 
is  only  one  phase  of  the  larger  problem  of  American- 
1  Taken  from  T.  D.  Wood's  pamphlet  above  referred  to. 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  201 

ization.  To  understand,  speak,  read,  and  write  the 
English  language  is  the  first  essential,  but  from  the 
Nation's  point  of  view  these  arts  are  but  means  to  an 
end.  The  all-important  end  is  that  the  immigrant  and 
his  children  shall  know  and  appreciate  American  ideals 
and  standards,  and  be  able  to  participate  intelligently 
in  the  conduct  of  national  affairs.  The  handicap  of 
alienism  during  the  earlier  stages  of  the  war  was  not 
confined  by  any  means  to  the  alien  groups  in  the  cities. 
For  the  first  time  the  average  American  citizen  became 
aware  that  "alien  islands"  existed  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  and  that  in  the  rural  districts  these  un- 
assimilated  groups  were  particularly  troublesome.  In 
some  cases,  indeed,  they  could  not  be  classed  as  immi- 
grant groups,  for  they  were  removed  two,  three,  or 
even  four  generations  from  the  original  settlers,  —  and 
yet  they  formed,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  thoroughly 
alien  communities.  Not  only  did  the  people  speak  an 
alien  tongue,  but  the  schools  —  sometimes  public  schools 
supported  in  part  by  general  state  taxation  —  were 
conducted  in  a  foreign  language. 

The  problem  of  Americanization,  then,  is  not  ex- 
clusively a  problem  of  "immigrant"  education.  Upon 
the  rural  school  must  rest  the  responsibility  of 
"Americanizing"  second,  third,  and  even  fourth  gen- 
erations of  original  European  stock,  representing 
families  and  sometimes  entire  communities  that  have 
not  as  yet  acquired   the   first  essentials  of  American 


202 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


citizenship,    although    the   franchise   has   been    freely 
granted  them. 

(e)   The  Low  Average  Length  of  Schooling 

With  all  these  shortcomings  of  the  rural  school  in 
mind,  it  is  easy  to  appreciate  their  significance  and 
meaning  nationally  when  it  is  remembered  that  53.6 
per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  this  country  is  resident 
in  rural  communities.  These  shortcomings  have  a  still 
further  meaning  when  we  remember  the  fact  that  58.4 
per  cent  of  the  total  population  from  six  to  twenty  years 
of  age  inclusive  lives  in  rural  communities.1  The 
greatest  significance  of  these  shortcomings  of  the  rural 
school,  however,  is  to  be  found  in  the  figures  showing 
enrollment  by  grades  in  the  public  schools.  For  con- 
venience this  is  shown  in  tabular  form  below.2 


%  Enrolled  in  First 

%  Enrolled  in  Second 

Four "Grades 

Four  Grades 

North  Atlantic 

S8.SI 

41.49 

North  Central 

60.60 

39-4° 

South  Atlantic 

75-72 

24.28 

South  Central 

73-95 

26.05 

Western  Division     .... 

62-55 

37-45 

United  States 

65.48 

34-52 

The  preceding  table  should  be  corrected  by  keeping  in 
mind  that  the  population  is  continually  increasing ;  this 
means  that  the  enrollment  in  the  first  four  grades  will 

1  U.  S.  Com.  of  Edn.  Report,  191 7,  Vol.  2,  p.  37.        2  Ibid.,  p.  65. 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS 


203 


be  relatively  larger  than  in  the  second  four  grades  of 
the  public  school ;  but  even  when  this  allowance  is  made 
it  is  evident  that  there  is  a  marked  falling  off  in  the 
second  four  grades.  The  relation  of  this  decrease  in  the 
per  cent  enrolled  in  the  second  four  grades  is  closely- 
connected  with  the  per  cent  living  in  urban  and  rural 
communities  in  the  different  divisions.  The  following 
tabular  statement  shows  the  per  cent  resident  in  urban 
and  rural  communities  in  the  different  divisions  of  the 
United  States. 


Urban 

Rural 

North  Atlantic 

North  Central 

South  Atlantic 

South  Central 

74.2 
45-2 
254 
20.6 
48.8 

25.8  x 

54-8' 

74.6 

79-4 

51-2 

When  this  table  is  interpreted  in  connection  with 
the  table  just  preceding  it,  it  is  evident  that  where  there 
is  a  high  proportion  of  the  total  population  in  rural 
communities,  a  relatively  low  proportion  of  children  are 
enrolled  in  the  second  four  grades  of  the  public  school. 
This  conclusion  makes  it  evident  that  the  schooling 
of  children  in  urban  communities  is  distinctly  longer 
than  the  schooling  of  those  in  rural  communities. 

1  The  Census  Abstract,  1910,  p.  54,  points  out  that  the  urban  per  cent 
for  New  England  is  too  high  because  it  includes  all  towns  with  2500  or 
more  population.  In  some  cases  in  New  England,  the  town  with  2500 
people  is  practically  nothing  but  open  country  and  very  small  villages. 


204  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

It  is  easy  to  fall  into  the  error  of  judging  our  public 
school  system  by  the  performance  of  the  best  public 
schools.  These  best  public  schools  are  located  in  the 
cities  where  the  population  is  compact  and  where  per 
capita  wealth  is  greatest.  These  schools  can  and  do 
organize  classes  for  adult  illiterates  and  for  the  Ameri- 
canization of  foreigners.  They  do  superior  work  in 
physical  and  health  education.  In  cities  of  five  thou- 
sand or  more  inhabitants,  there  is  42  per  cent  of  the 
total  population  with  only  35  per  cent  of  the  school  en- 
rollment. This  35  per  cent  of  the  school  enrollment, 
however,  furnishes  38  per  cent  of  the  average  daily 
attendance.  Further,  these  cities  have  only  33%  per 
cent  of  the  teachers,  but  these  teachers  receive  51  per 
cent  of  all  salaries  paid  to  teachers.  Moreover,  the  best 
prepared  teachers  and  those  with  the  largest  experience 
are  to  be  found  in  the  cities.  These  facts  do  credit  to 
the  city  schools,  but  they  must  be  subtracted  from  the 
total  or  average  performances  if  one  would  determine 
the  actual  performance  of  the  rural  schools.  These  high 
standards  attained  by  city  schools  simply  emphasize  the 
necessity  for  improving  rural  schools. 

Better  Rural  Schools  a  National  Responsibility 
Pending  the  solution  of  the  rural-school  problem, 
then,  there  can  be  no  permanent  solution  of  the  problems 
of  illiteracy,  limited  literacy,  health  deficiencies,  and 
"native-born  alienism."    That  these  are  national  prob- 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  205 

lems  and  that  the  conditions  which  make  them  prob- 
lems constitute  a  most  serious  national  menace,  the 
experience  of  the  war  abundantly  proves.  To  the 
Federal  Government  has  been  delegated  the  duty  and 
power  "to  provide  for  the  common  defense."  Under 
modern  conditions,  the  fundamental  provisions  for  the 
"common  defense"  are  high  levels  of  physical  stamina 
and  health  and  of  trained  intelligence  among  the  people 
as  a  whole.  That  such  levels  exist  to-day  the  findings 
of  the  Army  tests  convincingly  disprove.  No  nation 
one  third  of  whose  young  men  are  physically  unfit  for 
military  service  can  count  itself  "strong"  —  no  matter 
how  vigorous  the  remaining  two  thirds  may  be.  No 
nation  in  which  one  fourth  of  the  people  are  essen- 
tially illiterate  can  feel  secure,  —  however  well  it  may 
have  prepared  its  "leaders."  No  nation  so  handi- 
capped can  compete  on  equal  terms,  either  in  war  or  in 
peace,  with  nations  that  are  better  circumstanced  — 
and  such  nations  exist  to-day,  —  nations,  too,  with 
which  the  relations  of  the  United  States  may  not  always 
be  friendly.  It  requires  no  prophet's  eye  to  see  that 
troublous  decades  are  ahead.  The  new  world  order 
cannot  be  expected  to  establish  itself  overnight  or 
without  twistings  and  wrenchings  that  will  imperil 
every  ideal  for  which  the  Great  War  was  fought  and 
won.  Lack  of  "preparedness"  against  these  clearly 
predictable  crises  would  be  a  crime,  and  certainly  the 
kind  of  preparedness  which  is  of  the  highest  importance 


206  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

for  the  nation  that  has  set  the  type  and  pattern  for  a 
democratic  world  is  that  which  the  mental  and  physical 
upbuilding  of  all  of  the  people  alone  can  bring  into 
being.  This  is  the  best  way  to  provide  for  the  common 
defense.  This  means  first  of  all  an  immediate  and 
nation-wide  reform  of  rural  education. 

Even  if  the  rural  schools  did  not  merit  attention  from 
Congress  on  the  ground  of  the  "common  defense," 
they  could  claim  consideration  upon  the  basis  of  each 
and  every  one  of  the  remaining  clauses  in  the  great 
Preamble.  What  can  do  so  much  to  "form  a  more 
perfect  union"  as  to  insure  such  bases  of  social  soli- 
darity, such  conditions  of  clear  collective  thinking  and 
sound  collective  judgment,  as  only  a  system  of  universal 
education  can  provide?  What  would  better  "promote 
the  general  welfare"  than  trained  intelligence  and  sound 
health  on  a  thoroughly  national  basis?  What  would 
more  clearly  "insure  domestic  tranquillity,"  so  sadly 
needed  in  these  days  of  social  and  economic  unrest,  than 
the  provision  of  a  pervasive  common  culture,  —  the 
only  sure  and  dependable  basis  of  mutual  understanding? 
What,  other  than  this,  would  more  certainly  "establish 
justice,"  -  not  only  justice  in  the  administration  of 
the  law,  but  justice  in  the  determination  and  direction 
of  that  overwhelming  power  of  public  opinion  upon 
which  even  the  law  itself  depends  for  its  effectiveness? 
What,  that  is  less  comprehensive,  can  "secure  the  bless- 
ings of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity"?     For 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  2CJ 

is  not  the  security  of  these  blessings  dependent  first  of 
all  upon  an  appreciation  of  what  liberty  means,  and  how 
may  such  an  appreciation  be  developed  upon  a  nation- 
wide scale  except  through  an  educational  system  that 
touches  and  quickens  every  child  in  the  land,  —  an 
educational  system,  strong,  vigorous,  and  efficient,  not 
only  in  spots,  not  only  in  this  state  or  that  county  or 
the  other  city,  but  wherever  American  children  are 
growing  into  mature  and  responsible  American  citizens  ? 


CHAPTER  XIX 

The  Weakest  Links 
b.   the  immature  and  untrained  teacher 

The  soul  and  substance  of  every  school  is  the  teacher. 
In  the  last  analysis,  all  buildings,  apparatus,  and  school 
revenues  are  purely  material  things,  —  helps,  aids,  means 
to  an  end.  The  teacher  is  the  personal  and  human 
agency  that  gives  life  and  significance  to  the  work  that 
the  school  sets  out  to  accomplish.  The  success  of  the 
school  and  of  the  school  system  is  measured  by  the 
amount  of  real  educative  activity  that  goes  on  in  the 
minds  of  the  pupils,  and  it  is  the  personal,  human  factor 
that  determines  this.  In  so  far  as  the  state  or  the  Nation 
depends  for  stability  and  progress  upon  its  schools,  it 
depends  upon  the  teachers. 

Teaching  is  an  art.  Indeed,  good  teaching  is  a  fine 
art,  —  which  is  to  say  again  that  the  personal  and  human 
factors  constitute  its  soul  and  substance.  But,  like 
other  fine  arts,  it  has  a  technique,  and  this  technique 
can  be  mastered  by  competent  persons  under  the  proper 
conditions.  Certain  of  these  conditions  are  of  outstand- 
ing importance  —  the  maturity  of  mind  that  comes 
only  with  age  and  experience ;  the  knowledge  that  comes 
only  by  study;    the  character  that  comes  only  with 

208 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  200, 

reflection,  responsibility,  and  acts  of  intelligent  choice ; 
and  the  insight,  resourcefulness,  and  good  sense  that 
come  in  part  from  native  endowment  and  in  part  from 
the  discipline  of  training  and  experience.  The  old  saw 
—  "Teachers  are  born,  not  made"  —  means  that  some 
people  possess  these  fundamental  qualifications  without 
a  definite  and  specific  course  of  preparation,  —  some 
people  have  a  "knack"  of  teaching.  It  is  just  as  true, 
perhaps,  as  the  statement  that  musicians  are  born  and 
not  made ;  but  while  a  person  may  be  born  with  every 
physical  and  mental  quality  that  goes  to  make  up 
musical  talent,  no  person  is  "born"  an  accomplished 
musician.  And  by  the  same  token,  no  person  is 
"born"  an  accomplished  teacher. 

Preparation  for  teaching  should  rest  upon  the  largest 
possible  equipment  of  native  talent  for  teaching,  but  to 
put  persons  even  well  qualified  by  native  endowment 
into  the  actual  work  of  teaching  without  preparation  is 
simply  to  give  them  their  preparation  at  the  expense 
of  the  children  whom  they  teach,  —  or,  as  is  more  fre- 
quently the  case,  to  leave  them  permanently  on  the 
plane  of  amateurish  bungling. 

In  Chapter  XVIII  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  solution 
of  the  problems  presented  by  illiteracy,  limited  literacy, 
and  physical  and  health  deficiencies  could  be  effected 
only  through  a  solution  of  the  rural-school  problem. 
But  in  its  turn,  the  rural-school  problem  cannot  be 
solved  until  the  teacher  problem  has  been  solved.     We 


210  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

come,  then,  in  the  present  chapter  to  the  most  funda- 
mental source  of  weakness  in  American  public  educa- 
tion. 

THE   RURAL-SCHOOL   TEACHER 

A  clear  conception  of  rural-school  deficiencies  can  be 
gained  only  by  understanding  the  limitations  of  the 
rural-school  teacher.  There  are  required  for  this 
branch  of  the  public-school  service  approximately  three 
hundred  thousand  teachers.  These  teachers  as  a  group 
constitute  by  far  the  youngest,  the  most  inexperienced, 
and  the  least  well-educated  portion  of  the  total  teaching 
population.  Of  the  three  hundred  thousand,  more  than 
half  would  be  debarred  from  voting  because  of  their 
youth,  and  yet  to  them  the  public  nonchalantly  dele- 
gates a  responsibility  in  comparison  with  which  the 
individual  franchise  is  a  mere  bagatelle  —  for  each  of 
them  is  a  potential  factor  in  determining  the  votes  of 
from  fifteen  to  forty  citizens  in  embryo. 

These  three  hundred  thousand  rural  and  village 
teachers,  as  a  group,  have  had  for  their  responsible 
duties  no  training  that  deserves  the  name.  Some  of 
them  are  products  of  neighboring  high  schools,  and  in 
several  states  an  effort  is  made  to  give  a  little  instruction 
in  the  high  schools  that  will  make  the  work  of  a  beginner 
a  little  less  bungling.  In  no  state,  however,  has  this 
been  looked  upon  as  anything  more  than  a  temporary 
and  most  unsatisfactory  expedient,  —  and  the  majority 
of   rural-school   teachers   lack   even   this   modicum   of 


THE   WEAKEST    LINKS  211 

training.  A  large  proportion  of  them  have  not  com- 
pleted a  high-school  course.  Indeed,  it  is  estimated 
that  no  fewer  than  a  million  children  now  enrolled  in  the 
rural  schools  are  under  teachers  who  have  had  no  more 
than  eighth-grade  education  themselves,  —  and  many 
even  less  than  that. 

The  rural-school  teachers  are  transient  in  the  calling. 
The  Federal  Commissioner  of  Education  estimated  the 
number  of  recruits  needed  for  this  service  in  a  single 
year  (1918-19)  as  130,000,  —  an  annual  "turn-over" 
of  more  than  one  in  three.  In  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
of  the  Middle  Western  states,  the  Bureau  of  Education 
reports  the  average  term  of  service  of  the  rural-school 
teacher  to  be  not  more  than  two  years. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  ultimate 
elimination  of  illiteracy  and  the  reduction  of  limited 
literacy  depend  upon  the  reform  of  rural  education.  It 
should  now  be  clear  that  the  first  step  in  this  reform 
should  be  to  insure  for  the  rural  schools  a  relatively 
permanent  and  stable  body  of  teachers,  thoroughly 
trained  to  undertake  the  responsible  duties  which  these 
isolated  posts  impose.  Into  these  schools  should  go  the 
best  talent  that  the  calling  can  attract.  Obviously,  the 
only  way  to  attain  this  end  is  to  advance  the  rewards 
and  raise  the  standards  of  the  rural-school  service. 
The  situation  could  be  entirely  transformed  in  a  few 
years  and  at  a  paltry  cost,  —  a  cost  paltry  in  comparison 
with   what   the   Nation   would  gain.     Three   hundred 


212  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

thousand  well-selected,  well-trained,  and  permanent 
teachers  in  the  rural  and  village  schools  could  un- 
doubtedly, as  a  group,  do  vastly  more  for  the  Nation 
than  an  equal  number  of  men  and  women,  as  well 
selected  and  as  well  trained,  could  do  in  any  other  form 
of  public  or  social  service,  for  they  could  profoundly 
influence  our  national  life  for  the  greatest  good  at  the 
very  root  and  source  of  whatever  elements  of  strength 
it  may  possess. 

THE    PUBLIC   ATTITUDE    TOWARD    THE    PUBLIC-SCHOOL 
SERVICE 

The  situation  in  the  rural  and  village  schools  throws 
its  dark  shadow  over  every  type  of  educational  work. 
Urban  schools  are,  in  many  ways,  vastly  better  off,  and 
yet  the  fact  that  the  rural  and  village  teachers,  con- 
stituting nearly  one  half  of  the  teaching  population, 
are  immature,  transient,  and  untrained,  operates  to 
depress  standards  throughout  the  entire  field.  Most  of 
the  larger  cities,  for  example,  maintain  local  training 
schools  for  elementary  teachers,  and  could  easily  require 
reasonably  high  standards  of  preparation.  With  a  few 
notable  exceptions  they  demand  but  one  or  two  years  of 
professional  training  after  the  candidate  has  completed 
a  high-school  course.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  two 
years  represent  the  lowest  minimum  that  should  be 
tolerated;  yet  even  our  largest  and  richest  cities  are 
content    with    this.     Indeed,   of    all    our  public-school 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  213 

teachers,  a  most  conservative  estimate  places  the  pro- 
portion that  have  met  this  standard  at  one  in  five.  In 
England  the  proportion  meeting  a  comparable  standard 
is  four  in  six,  and  in  many  of  the  countries  of  continental 
Europe  the  proportion  is  still  higher.  In  so  far  as  our 
policies  of  teacher-preparation  are  concerned,  we  are 
surpassed  by  some  of  our  South  American  neighbors.  A 
bulletin  of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Education  *  author- 
itatively asserts  that  the  United  States  gives  less  atten- 
tion to  the  preparation  of  public-school  teachers  than 
does  any  other  civilized  nation. 

Why  do  we  hold  this  low  station  in  respect  to  a  public 
business  which,  theoretically,  overtops  all  others  in  its 
significance  to  the  welfare  and  progress  of  democratic 
institutions?  Surely  the  cause  is  not  to  be  found  in 
our  poverty,  nor  is  it  to  be  found  in  a  failure  to  recog- 
nize abstractly  the  importance  of  public  education.  It 
lies  primarily  in  the  tradition  that  the  actual  work  of  class- 
room teaching  is  not  a  serious  and  permanent  occupation. 

That  teaching  is  at  best  only  a  transitory  calling  for 
either  men  or  women  has  become,  indeed,  a  fixed  tradi- 
tion. Social  and  economic  forces  have  been  favorable 
to  its  cumulative  growth.  The  supply  of  these  temporary 
teachers  until  recently  has  overtopped  the  demand ; 
hence  wages  could  be  kept  low.  The  girls  usually  lived 
with  their  parents,  and  their  earnings  were  often  more 
in  the  nature  of  pin  money  than  of  a  living  and  saving 
1  Bulletin  No.  12,  1916. 


214 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


wage.  Public  education,  indeed,  has  been  far  from 
burdensome  to  the  taxpayer.  The  entire  schooling  of 
the  average  adult  native-born  citizen  has  cost  the  public 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  —  an  amount 


SALARY  IN  HUNDREDS  OF  DOLLARS 
1    2   3   4    6    6    7    8   9  10  11  12  1314  16  1617  18  1920 


Machinists 

Lathers 

Bricklayers 

Inside  vAremen 

Workers,  structural  iron 

Blacksmiths 

Machine  tenders  {printing) 

Compositors  {English) 

Glaziers 

Plumbers 

Carpenters 

Hodcarriers 

Bakers 

High  School  Teachers 

Intermediate  Ttachers 

Elementary  Teachers 

Figure  3.  —  Chart  showing  comparison  of  teachers' salaries  in  five  Middle 
Western  states  with  the  union  scale  of  wages  for  certain  occupations  in  the 
same  section  as  indicated  by  the  average  of  the  wages  paid  in  Chicago  and 
Cleveland.     From  E.  S.  Evenden's  Teachers'  Salaries  and  Salary  Schedules. 


comparable  perhaps  with  that  which  the  village  grocer 
invests  in  his  daughter's  piano  lessons. 

Nor  is  a  low  wage  scale  the  only  sorry  result  of  the 
tradition  that  teaching  is  not  a  serious  business.     Stand- 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  21 5 

ards  of  preparation  have  been  kept  low.  In  general, 
the  requirements  for  a  teacher's  license  in  any  com- 
munity have  been  those  that  the  average  girl  graduating 
from  the  local  school  could  easily  meet.  To  advance 
requirements  beyond  this  point  would  mean  that  the 
local  girls  must  go  elsewhere  for  preparation,  and  this 
would  automatically  place  appointments  in  the  local 
schools  beyond  the  reach  of  the  larger  part  of  the  other- 
wise available  "home  talent."  The  typical  public- 
school  teacher  comes  from  a  family  of  four  or  five 
children,  and  from  a  family  that  " enjoys"  a  very  moder- 
ate income.  A  study  made  in  191 1  estimated  the  earn- 
ings of  the  average  family  from  which  elementary 
teachers  are  drawn  at  $8ob  a  year.1  Any  attempt  to 
raise  standards  for  the  teacher's  license  to  the  point 
where  adequate  preparation  would  be  required  is  met 
at  once  by  "pressure"  from  the  numerous  groups  of 
families  that  have  come  to  look  upon  teaching  appoint- 
ments in  the  local  schools  as  the  vested  right  of  their 
daughters. 

Under  these  conditions,  too,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
material  rewards  of  public-school  service,  meager  as 
they  are,  have  acquired  the  earmarks  of  a  public  gra- 
tuity doled  out  to  the  deserving  poor,  —  a  point  of  view 
that  finds  a  tragic  expression  in  the  rulings  of  most 
boards  of  education  that  a  woman  teacher's  tenure 
ends    automatically    with    her    marriage,  —  unless,    as 

1  L.  D.  Coff man's  Social  Composition  of  the  Teaching  Population. 


2l6  THE  NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

some  boards  have  charitably  decreed,  her  husband  is 
unable  to  support  her  ! J 

It  is  small  wonder,  then,  that  public-school  service  has 
become  progressively  less  and  less  attractive  to  the  type 
of  young  manhood  and  young  womanhood  that  the 
Nation  needs  for  this  important  work.  Recent  develop- 
ments have  intensified  the  situation,  and  have  created 
throughout  the  country  a  real  crisis.  In  the  early 
days,  conditions  were  at  least  tolerable.  Teaching  was 
a  stop-gap  occupation,  it  is  true,  but  many  of  the 
strongest  and  most  promising  young  men  were  drawn 
into  the  schools  for  a  brief  period,  and  some  of  these, 
finding  the  work  to  their  liking,  remained  even  in  the 
face  of  meager  rewards  and  inadequate  recognitions. 
The  girls,  too,  who  entered  the  schools  temporarily  were 
usually  of  a  fine  type,  coming  from  homes  that  rep- 
resented the  best  ideals  and  traditions  of  American  life. 

To-day  all  this  is  changed.  Almost  no  men  become 
classroom  teachers  in  the  urban  elementary  schools ; 
they  are  rapidly  deserting  the  rural  schools ;  and  those 
seeking  even  temporary  appointments  in  the  high 
schools  are  diminishing  in  number  and  apparently  dete- 
riorating in  quality.  Industrial  and  commercial  enter- 
prise has  been  quick  to  see  that  it  pays  to  catch  ability 

1  During  the  war  the  Boston  School  Committee  permitted  certain 
former  teachers,  who  had  married  and  whose  husbands  were  then  in 
the  Army  or  the  Navy,  to  return  to  the  classrooms.  But  it  explicitly 
provided  that  officers'  wives  should  not  have  this  privilege  on  the  ground 
that  an  officer's  pay  was  ample  for  the  support  of  his  wife. 


THE   WEAKEST   LINKS  217 

while  it  is  young  and  to  pay  generously  for  its  training. 
Indeed,  it  is  intelligent  enough  to  recognize  ability  in 
those  no  longer  young.  A  man  who  had  served  for 
thirteen  years  as  a  teacher,  advancing  in  that  time  from 
the  district  schools  to  a  high-school  principalship,  re- 
cently enrolled  at  a  university  to  prepare  for  additional 
responsibilities  in  public-school  work.  Needing  funds 
to  meet  the  increased  cost  of  living,  he  applied  for  part- 
time  work  in  a  metropolitan  bank.  A  week  later  he 
withdrew  from  the  university,  giving  as  a  reason  the 
fact  that  his  work  at  the  bank  would  be  full-time. 
He  was  asked  by  one  of  his  instructors  what  he  knew 
about  banking.  "Absolutely  nothing,"  he  replied. 
"I  am  learning.  The  bank  will  pay  me  while  it  is 
training  me  more  than  I  have  ever  received  as  a  teacher. 
The  future  possibilities  are  vastly  more  attractive  than 
anything  that  public  education  can  promise.  To  ad- 
vance in  the  educational  field  I  must  prepare  further 
at  my  own  expense.  And,"  he  added,  "  I  have  a  family." 
This  competition  for  ability,  at  first  limited  to  young 
men,  is  now  rapidly  extending  to  young  women.  In 
the  cities,  the  gap  between  graduation  and  marriage 
may  now  be  bridged  much  more  rapidly,  much  more 
easily,  and  much  more  pleasantly  through  any  one  of 
a  score  of  other  occupations  than  through  teaching. 
Even  the  girls  in  the  towns  and  villages  who,  a  few  years 
ago,  would  have  sought  appointments  in  the  neighboring 
rural  schools  now  find  more  lucrative  and  attractive 


2l8  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

opportunities  in  business  and  industry.  In  practically 
every  state  there  is  to-day  an  acute  shortage  of  teachers 
for  the  rural  schools,  —  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
wages  have  been  advanced  while  the  standards  of  certi- 
fication have  been  lowered  by  the  wholesale  issuing 
of  "emergency"  licenses. 

The  war,  of  course,  is  responsible  for  the  desperateness 
of  the  present  situation,  but  the  social  and  economic 
conditions  which  have  been  aggravated  by  the  war  were 
already  in  evidence  long  before  the  war  began  and 
sooner  or  later  would  have  produced  the  same  results. 
For  a  decade,  according  to  the  testimony  of  those  in 
closest  touch  with  the  situation,  the  type  of  recruit 
drawn  into  the  public-school  service  has  been  steadily 
deteriorating.  One  normal-school  principal,  for  ex- 
ample, reports  that  the  students  now  entering  his 
school  represent  in  their  scholastic  ability  the  lowest 
tenth  of  the  high-school  graduates  of  his  district ;  his 
school  formerly  attracted  students  of  a  superior  quality. 
An  investigation  in  a  typical  Mid-Western  state  revealed 
the  fact  that,  in  personality  and  often  in  scholarship, 
the  high-school  graduates  entering  the  normal  schools 
to  prepare  for  teaching  are  distinctly  inferior  to  grad- 
uates destined  for  other  occupations.  In  the  Eastern 
states,  particularly,  the  students  in  the  city  training 
schools  for  teachers  represent,  in  ever-increasing  pro- 
portions, the  more  recently  arrived  contingents  of  the 
immigrant  population,  —  potentially  worthy  material, 


THE   WEAKEST   LINKS  210 

no  doubt,  but  necessarily  lacking  in  American  traditions 
and  ideals,  and  sometimes  reflecting  manners  and 
standards  that  certainly  should  not  be  engrafted  upon 
the  next  generation  of  American  citizens.  The  bearing 
of  this  condition  upon  the  problem  of  "Americani- 
zation" is  obvious. 

Even  if  the  quality  of  the  teaching  population  did  not 
reveal  these  symptoms  of  deterioration,  the  facts 
regarding  the  youth,  inexperience,  and  inadequate 
training  of  public-school  teachers  as  a  group  should, 
in  all  conscience,  be  sufficiently  disquieting.  These 
facts  are  not  generally  known  because  very  few  people 
are  interested  in  public  education  from  a  national 
point  of  view,  and  it  is  only  when  one  takes  this  point 
of  view  that  the  seriousness  of  the  situation  becomes 
fully  apparent. 

THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  PUBLIC-SCHOOL  SERVICE 

To  evaluate  the  educational  strength  of  the  Nation, 
one  must  first  of  all  strive  to  build  up  a  fairly  adequate 
mental  picture  of  the  "teaching  population."  This  is 
no  easy  task,  for  more  than  600,000  teachers  are  required 
for  the  public-school  service.  The  characteristics  of  one 
large  element  in  this  heterogeneous  group  —  the  teachers 
of  the  rural  and  village  schools  —  have  already  been 
referred  to  ;  it  is  now  necessary  to  describe  the  teaching 
population  as  a  whole.  \ 

Imagine  these  600,000  teachers  to  be  extended  in  a 


220  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

long  line.  Allowing  three  feet  of  space  for  each  individ- 
ual, this  line  will  extend  unbroken  for  over  three  hun- 
dred miles.  By  rearranging  the  line  for  different  quali- 
fications or  characteristics,  it  will  be  possible  to  gain  a 
somewhat  concrete  picture  of  the  men  and  women  who 
are  intrusted  with  the  Nation's  most  important  work. 

Let  the  first  arrangement  follow  the  order  of  age  or 
maturity.  The  youngest  teacher  is  at  one  end  of  the 
line,  the  oldest  teacher  at  the  other  end ;  the  remaining 
teachers  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  age.  Starting 
with  the  youngest  teacher  and  journeying  along  the 
line,  one  will  traverse  one  fourth  of  the  entire  distance 
before  reaching  a  teacher  who  has  passed  the  age  of 
twenty-one.  Roughly  speaking,  one  fourth  of  all  of  the 
Nation's  children  are  receiving  their  education  at  the 
hands  of  these  immature  teachers.  This,  however, 
does  not  tell  the  whole  story,  for  one  will  have  passed 
in  all  likelihood  more  than  100,000  teachers  before 
reaching  the  first  of  the  twenty-year-old  group,  while 
tens  of  thousands  of  those  first  encountered  are  only 
sixteen,  seventeen,  or  eighteen  years  old. 

Let  the  line  form  again  on  the  basis  of  educational 
equipment  as  shown  by  the  length  of  time  that  these 
teachers  have  themselves  attended  school.  Now  the 
journey  along  the  line  will  take  one  past  at  least  30,000 
teachers  before  one  reaches  the  first  individual  who  has 
had  any  education  whatsoever  beyond  the  eighth  grade 
of  the  common  school.     In  terms  of  the  pupils   taught 


THE   WEAKEST    LINKS  221 

there  are  nearly  one  million  of  the  Nation's  children,  — 
an  army  half  as  large  as  that  which  was  sent  to  France 
to  save  civilization,  —  whose  teachers  are  limited  to 
this  slender  educational  equipment.  Continuing  along 
the  line,  about  150,000  teachers  would  be  passed  before 
reaching  the  first  individual  whose  total  education  had 
amounted  to  more  than  two  years  of  high-school  work, 
and  480,000,  —  four  fifths  of  the  entire  group,  — 
would  be  left  behind  before  one  reached  the  first  in- 
dividual who  had  met  the  standard  of  preparation 
recognized  in  all  civilized  countries  as  constituting  the 
barest  minimum  for  elementary  teaching  —  two  years 
of  training  after  high-school  graduation,  or  six  years 
of  education  in  all  beyond  the  eighth  grade. 

Forming  the  line  again  on  the  basis  of  experience 
in  teaching  (which  is  obviously  related  to  the  maturity 
of  the  teacher),  one  would  pass  150,000  teachers  before 
reaching  the  first  individual  who  had  taught  more  than 
two  years,  while  the  middle  of  the  line  would  be  reached 
before  one  could  greet  the  first  "  experienced "  teacher 
—  one  who  had  taught  at  least  four  years.  One  half 
of  the  Nation's  children,  then,  are  being  taught  by 
teachers  who  have  not  served  sufficiently  long  to  let 
the  discipline  of  experience  compensate  in  any  marked 
degree  for  the  deficiencies  in  their  initial  training.1 

1  These  comparisons  are  derived  from  very  careful  estimates  which, 
in  turn,  are  based  upon  the  most  trustworthy  available  investigations. 
No  complete  census  of  the  teaching  population  has  ever  been  made,  but 
fairly  complete  data  have  been  collected  for  different  states,  and  one 


222  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

This  remarkable  result  has  been  achieved  under  the 
neighborhood  and  state  conceptions  of  educational 
responsibility.  In  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn, 
it  is  a  record  of  educational  weakness  that  is  unsur- 
passed by  any  other  civilized  nation.  The  poorest 
democracy  might  fittingly  blush  with  collective  shame 
at  such  a  showing.  Will  the  richest  and  proudest  of 
all  the  democracies  remain  smug  and  complacent  ? 

THE   SITUATION   IN   TYPICAL   STATES 

The  types  and  qualifications  of  public-school  teachers 
vary  widely  among  the  different  states,  —  but  the 
variations  represent  only  different  degrees  of  intoler- 
ableness ;  in  no  single  state  does  the  teaching  population 
represent  as  a  whole  the  standards  that  are  everywhere 
accepted  as  the  lowest  possible  within  the  limits  of  a 
decent  regard  for  the  rights  and  needs  of  children  and 
the  welfare  of  the  social  group. 

In  the  report  of  a  recent  Educational  Survey  of  Ala- 
bama* the  qualifications  of  teachers  in  different  counties 
are  set  forth  with  clearness  : 

In  Escambia  County,2  out  of  2360  persons  between  the  ages 
of  ten  and  twenty,  twelve  and  one  half  per  cent  of  the  total  popu- 
lation were  found  to  be  illiterate,  although  nearly  seven  tenths  of 


important  study  of  the  teachers  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  based  upon 
"random  samplings  "  (Coffman's  The  Social  Composition  of  the  Teaching 
Population,  New  York,  1911),  is  very  generally  confirmed  by  the  results 
of  the  more  nearly  complete,  but  also  more  restricted,  investigations. 

1  Issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  as  Bulletin,  1919,  No.  41. 

2  See  pp.  156-162  for  details. 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  223 

the  population  is  white.  Of  the  one  hundred  twenty-four 
teachers  in  the  county,  only  one  third  (forty-one)  had  had  any 
education  whatsoever  beyond  the  elementary  school.  In  thirteen 
schools  visited  by  the  examiners,  the  pupils  present  constituted 
just  two  thirds  of  the  enrollment. 

In  Bullock  County,  there  are  5500  whites  out  of  a  total  popu- 
lation of  30,196.  Twenty-three  per  cent  of  the  whites  between 
ten  and  twenty  are  illiterates.  In  1910,  thirty-eight  per  cent  of 
the  males  of  voting  age  were  illiterate.  "About  2000  children 
actually  of  school  age  are  not  being  reached  by  the  public  schools 
even  in  the  limited  degree  necessary  to  overcome  absolute  illiter- 
acy." There  is  no  county  tax  for  school  purposes.  "With  the 
exception  of  Union  Springs,  the  only  town  of  over  2000  inhabitants, 
the  people  depend  entirely  on  state  funds,  dog  taxes,  and  poll  taxes 
to  educate  their  children."  Schools  are  "supplemented  both  in 
length  of  term  and  teachers'  salaries  by  subscriptions  from  the 
community." 

In  Pickens  County,  42  teachers  out  of  a  total  of  85  "have  had 
no  schooling  beyond  the  elementary  grades  or  only  a  year  or  two 
of  high  school  work."  ! 

"In  Montgomery  County,  33  of  the  69  rural  schools  are  taught 
in  schoolhouses,  and  36  are  taught  in  churches."  In  Dallas 
County,  half  of  the  negro  schools  are  taught  in  churches  (p.  181). 
Only  sixty  per  cent  of  the  negro  population  between  seven  and 
twenty-one  is  enrolled  in  schools  (p.  185).  Taking  the  state  as  a 
whole,  the  enrollment  per  teacher  is  abnormally  large,  especially 
in  the  negro  schools  (p.  186). 


Pupils  per  Teacher 

White 

Negro 

City       

42 
39-2 

41-5 

71-3 
63.8 
70 

1  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1919,  No.  41. 


224  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

The  Alabama  need  is  summed  up  as  follows : 

"The  most  urgent  need  of  the  colored  schools  of  Alabama  is 
trained  teachers.  The  supply  now  depends  almost  entirely  upon 
the  secondary   schools,  most  of  which  are  private  institutions. 

.  .  The  pupils  in  the  graduating  classes  of  all  the  schools 
offering  teacher-training  subjects  in  191 5  numbered  only  270,  an 
annual  output  obviously  inadequate  to  meet  the  need  for  teachers 
in  a  state  with  over  900,000  colored  people  and  2350  colored 
public-school  teachers,  of  whom  seventy  per  cent  are  holding  only 
third  grade  certificates."  1 

The  facts  regarding  the  academic  and  professional 
qualifications  of  3648  rural  and  village  teachers  of 
Alabama  are  as  follows : 

Sixteen  per  cent  have  completed  only  the  elementary  school 
course.2 

Ten  per  cent  have  had  only  one  year  of  high- school  attendance,, 
seventeen  per  cent  have  had  two  years,  eighteen  per  cent  three 
years,  and  thirty-eight  per  cent  four  years.  Nearly  two  thirds 
(63.6%)  have  had  no  professional  training,  and  only  about  eight 
per  cent  have  actually  graduated  from  teacher-training  institu- 
tions.3 

These  citations  of  fact  are  conclusive  proof  that 
Alabama  needs  a  form  of  stimulation  and  aid  that  will 
put  her  on  the  right  road  in  education,  —  that  will 
induce  and  enable  her  to  become  educationally  a  worthy 
part  of  the  United  States  of  America.     It  is  not  a  ques- 

1  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin  1916,  No.  39. 

2  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  elementary  school  in  the  South 
covers  usually  only  seven  years  as  against  eight  years  in  other  parts 
of  the  country. 

J  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin  1919,  No.  41,  p.  349. 


THE    WEAKEST    LINKS  225 

tion  of  coercion;  there  could  be  no  coercion  and  even 
if  there  could  be,  it  would  be  beside  the  point.  Ala- 
bama would  welcome  a  way  out  of  her  difficulty,  and 
it  is  to  the  highest  interest  of  the  Nation  to  prepare  the 
way;    stimulation  and  inducement  will  do  the  work. 

It  may  be  urged  that  the  illustration  just  cited  is 
exceptional.  A  study  of  the  table  of  facts  regarding 
teachers  (see  page  291)  will  prove  that  the  illustration 
represents  clearly  and  fairly  the  general  situation  in  the 
Southern  states.  But  it  is  not  merely  a  Southern  prob- 
lem and  a  Southern  condition  that  we  are  discussing. 

The  Graduate  School  of  Education  of  the  University 
of  Nebraska  recently  made  a  survey  "to  ascertain  the 
exact  status  of  the  rural  teachers  of  the  state  in  regard 
to  their  academic  and  professional  preparation ;  their 
teaching  experience  and  length  of  service ;  their  sex, 
age,  and  nationality;  and  such  contributory  factors  in 
teaching  efficiency  as  salary,  living  conditions,  and  the 
like."  The  results  are  published  by  the  Bureau  of 
Education  as  Bulletin  191 9,  No.  20.  Commissioner 
Claxton  says:  "The  survey  is,  in  fact,  a  study  of  the 
preparation  and  efficiency  of  rural-school  teachers,  which 
may  be  considered  typical  of  similar  studies  which  might 
be  made  in  other  states." 

Twenty-eight  hundred  forty  teachers  replied  to  the  question 
as  to  secondary  education.  Forty-four  per  cent  had  not  graduated 
from  a  high  school.  Only  four  per  cent  had  had  more  than  thirty- 
six  months  in  high  school. 

Q 


226  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

Twenty-one  hundred  seven  teachers  replied  to  the  question 
regarding  education  beyond  the  high  school.  Forty-two  per  cent 
of  them  had  no  education  beyond  the  high  school;  twenty-six 
per  cent  had  one  summer  term  at  a  normal  school ;  seventeen  per 
cent  had  not  graduated  from  a  normal  school;  eleven  per  cent 
had  spent  one  summer  term  or  more  at  college.  There  were 
four  normal-school  graduates  in  the  2ioj  teachers  reporting.  The 
teachers  who  failed  to  answer  this  question  were  probably  without 
high-school  preparation.  In  other  words,  while  102  out  of  2640 
admitted  they  had  never  attended  high  school,  it  is  probable  that 
the  37  who  did  not  reply  belonged  to  the  same  group.  If  so,  then 
139  out  of  2874,  or  four  and  nine  tenths  per  cent,  had  never  at- 
tended high  school  at  all.1  The  average  number  of  months  taught 
by  these  teachers  (except  in  the  third  Congressional  district)  was 
seven  and  two  tenths.  Thirty-three  per  cent  of  the  teachers 
were  "beginners."  Sixty-seven  per  cent  had  to  live  in  unheated 
rooms.  The  median  monthly  wage  was  $47.69.  Fifty  per  cent 
of  the  teachers  were  not  over  twenty  years  of  age,  and  eighty- 
eight  per  cent  were  not  over  twenty-five  years  of  age.  Only 
twelve  per  cent  had  the  maturity  of  mind  and  the  insight  into 
life  that  come  with  twenty-five  or  more  years  of  life.2 

In  1 91 4,  Mr.  A.  N.  Farmer  made  a  study  of  the 
academic  and  professional  training  of  teachers  in  the 
public  schools  of  Wisconsin,  for  the  year  1913-14.  This 
study  was  made  in  two  parts,  —  the  first  excluding  the 
one-room  rural  schools,  and  the  second  dealing  particu- 
larly with  one-room  rural  schools. 

Excluding  the  one-room  rural-school  teachers,  there  were 
9273    public-school   teachers.     The   net   total   of   normal-school, 

1  See  pp.  30-31  of  U.  S.  Bureau  Bulletin  1919,  No.  20. 
1  Ibid.,  pp.  24,  40,  48,  53. 


THE    WEAKEST   LINKS  227 

college,  and  university  graduates  was  6122.  That  is,  sixty-eight 
per  cent  of  the  public-school  teachers  in  all  schools,  except  the 
one-room  rural  schools,  were  normal-school,  college,  or  university 
graduates,  while  thirty-two  per  cent  of  these  town  and  city 
teachers  did  not  have  qualifications  equal  to  this  standard.1 

In  the  one-room  rural  schools  there  were  6639  teachers.  Of 
these,  2820,  or  forty-two  per  cent,  had  had  four  years  or  the 
equivalent  in  high  schools,  1681  had  had  a  two-year  course  be- 
yond the  elementary  school  in  normal  school  or  county  training 
school,  and  an  additional  268  had  had  two  years  in  high  school. 
In  one-room  schools  there  were,  therefore,  1749  teachers,  or 
twenty-six  per  cent  of  the  total,  with  only  two  years  of  high-school 
work  or  its  equivalent.  The  22  college  graduates  and  119  normal- 
school  graduates  constitute  but  a  trifle  over  two  per  cent  of  the 
teaching  population  in  these  schools.  If  we  grow  generous  and 
assume  some  magical  influence  developing  from  casual  (and 
usually  very  brief)  attendance  at  normal  school  or  college  or 
county  training  school,  the  total  thus  reached  is  3446,  or  a  little 
more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  entire  number.2 

If  we  combine  the  two  sets  of  facts  already  given,  we  find  that 
Wisconsin  employed  in  1913-14  a  total  of  15,912  teachers  in  the 
public  schools.  Of  this  number,  6233,  or  almost  forty  per  cent, 
were  normal-school  or  college  graduates.  An  additional  1681, 
or  ten  per  cent,  had  had  some  specific  preparation  for  teaching 
by  the  completion  of  a  course  in  normal  school  or  county  training 
school.  Still  another  group  of  2671,  or  seventeen  per  cent,  had 
completed  a  high-school  course.  The  remaining  thirty-three 
per  cent  had  had  less  academic  preparation  than  high  school 
graduation  implies  and  practically  no  specific  preparation  for 
teaching. 

1  Conditions  and  Needs  of  Wisconsin's  Normal  Schools,  by  A.  N. 
Farmer,  p.  564  a.  Issued  by  the  Wisconsin  State  Board  of  Public 
Affairs,  December,  1914. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  574-575- 


228 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


One  other  illustration  may  fittingly  close  the  matter 
under  consideration. 

There  were  in  Pennsylvania,  for  the  year  ending  July  3,  1917, 
a  total  of  44,144  teachers  in  the  public  schools.1  Under  the 
jurisdiction  of  county  superintendents,  6643  persons  held  only 
the  lowest  grade  of  certificate  that  can  be  issued,  i.e.  the  "pro- 
visional" certificate;  under  the  district  (or  city)  superintendents, 
988  teachers  also  held  only  the  provisional  certificate.  The  total 
of  provisionally  certificated  teachers  was  7631,  or  over  seventeen 
per  cent  of  the  entire  teaching  force  of  the  state.2  Under  county 
superintendents  there  were  3561  without  previous  experience  in 
teaching,  and  under  district  superintendents  945  were  similarly 
"beginners"  in  the  work.  This  gives  a  total  of  4506,  or  ten  per 
cent  of  the  teaching  force  in  1916-17,  who  were  without  previous  ex- 
perience in  teaching.3 

The  report  quoted  enables  us  to  make  an  additional  analysis, 
the  data  being  put  into  tabular  form  below.4 


Teachers  who  Hold  Under 

Co.  Supts. 

District  Supts. 

1.  Permanent  State  Certificates    . 

2.  Normal  School  Dip.  and  Cert. 

3.  Provisional  College  Certificates 

4.  Permanent  College  Certificates 

Totals 

Total  ....... 

806 

7,822 

679 
709 

10,016 

3,283 

4,448 

553 

943 

9,227 

19,243  out  of  44,144 

The  total  of  the  fairly  well  prepared  teachers  in  Pennsylvania, 
then,  —  19,243,  —  is  only  a  fraction  over  forty-three  per  cent  of 
the  entire  number  of  teachers  employed  in  the  state.  It  is  also 
worthy  of  remark  that  the  normal  schools  have  furnished  almost 
two  thirds  of  this  group. 

1  Report  of  Supt.  of  Public  Instruction,  Pennsylvania,  1917,  p.  651. 

2  See  Ibid.,  pp.  668-669,  and  676-677. 

3  Ibid.  4  Ibid.,  for  the  detailed  figures. 


THE   WEAKEST   LINKS  229 

RESULTS   OF   THE    LOW   STATUS   OF   TEACHING 

{A)  The  Present  Shortage  of  Teachers 
The  popular  conception  of  public-school  teaching 
as  a  casual  and  temporary  occupation  has  brought  forth 
its  natural  fruit  in  the  acute  shortage  of  teachers  that 
constitutes  to-day  one  of  the  most  serious  of  the  crises 
which  the  Nation  is  facing.  That  the  war  itself  should 
have  caused  a  shortage  was  to  be  expected,  but  the  war, 
as  has  been  suggested,  only  brought  more  quickly  to  a 
head  the  boil  on  the  body  politic  that  had  long  been 
festering.  The  shortage  has  not  only  continued  un- 
abated since  the  Armistice,  —  it  has  grown  progressively 
more  acute.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the 
status  quo  can  be  restored  unless  a  prolonged  period  of 
industrial  and  economic  depression  supervenes  —  and 
it  is  scarcely  comforting  to  think  that  the  richest  and 
strongest  of  the  world's  democracies  must  wait  for  hard 
times  to  make  tolerable  the  conditions  that  surround  its 
most  important  public  service. 

The  seriousness  of  the  shortage  at  the  opening  of  the 
school  year,  1919-20,  was  revealed  by  investigations 
undertaken  by  the  headquarters  staff  of  the  National 
Education  Association.1  Later  in  the  year,  the  Bureau 
of  Education  issued  a  report  in  which  the  shortage  was 
shown  to  be  below  the  earlier  estimates,  but  scarcely 
less  alarming. 

1  See  report  by  H.  S.  Magill  in  N.  E.  A.  Bulletin,  November,  1919, 
pp.  15-16. 


230 


THE  NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


There  were  approximately  18,000  classrooms  for  which 
teachers  could  not  be  found.  Assuming  an  average  of 
twenty-five  pupils  to  the  teacher,  —  a  conservative 
estimate,  —  there  have  been  this  year  450,000  boys  and 
girls  to  whom  school  privileges  were  denied.  This  estimate 
is  possibly  excessive,  because  in  some  cases,  pupils  are 
sent  to  neighboring  schools,  while  in  other  cases 
teachers  remaining  in  the  service  are  given  additional 
classes.  In  either  event,  there  is  a  deleterious  effect 
upon  educational  efficiency ;  and  in  any  case,  the  actual 
number  of  pupils  who  are  out  of  school  is  sufficiently 
large  to  be  alarming. 

Approximately  4  2, 000  teachers  were  classified  as  "below 
standard,"  —  that  is,  these  teachers  have  been  unable 
to  meet  the  very  modest  requirements  for  the  lowest 
grade  of  teachers'  license,  but  because  of  the  impos- 
sibility of  securing  qualified  persons,  they  have  been 
granted  "emergency"  or  "provisional"  licenses.  Again 
counting  twenty-five  pupils  to  each  teacher,  it  is  clear  that 
no  fewer  than  1,000,000  boys  and  girls  are  being  "taught" 
by  these  low-grade  teachers.  How  low  the  grade  may 
fall  is  indicated  by  the  reports  of  county  superintendents 
that  some  of  the  teachers  to  whom  they  have  been  forced 
to  issue  emergency  licenses  are  practically  illiterate ! 

There  is  this  year  a  falling  off  in  the  enrollment  of 
state  normal  schools  and  other  training  schools  for 
teachers  varying  from  one  half  to  one  third  of  the  pre- 
war figures.     The  colleges,  too,  report  a  decided  fall- 


THE   WEAKEST  LINKS  23 1 

ing  off  of  enrollments  in  teacher-training  courses,  al- 
though the  total  college  enrollment  is  apparently  larger 
than  ever  before.  These  facts  mean  that  the  supply  of 
trained  teachers  for  at  least  three  or  four  years  to  come  will 
be  even  more  restricted  than  it  has  been  in  the  past.  This 
particular  phase  of  the  problem  will  be  further  dis- 
cussed in  a  later  section  of  the  present  chapter  and  in 
Chapter  XXI. 

(B)  The  "Factory  Plan"  of  School  Administration 
A  second  lamentable  result  of  the  public  attitude 
toward  teaching  has  been  the  development  of  a  type  of 
organization  necessary,  perhaps,  to  secure  passable 
results  from  a  temporary  and  ill-trained  teaching  staff, 
but  fundamentally  inconsistent  with  the  fine  art  of 
teaching.  There  has  been  a  heavy  emphasis  upon 
programs  and  courses  of  study  prepared  in  central 
offices  often  far  removed,  both  in  space  and  in  spirit, 
from  the  classrooms.  The  textbook  has  acquired  an 
importance  in  American  schools  that  far  transcends 
its  significance  in  the  schools  of  other  countries.  Even 
in  the  larger  cities,  where  the  teachers  are  much  better 
prepared  than  in  the  village  and  open-country  schools, 
the  failure  to  recognize  the  actual  work  of  teaching  as 
constituting  a  worthy  career  has  given  rise  to  a  machinery 
of  administration  and  supervision,  the  intricate  workings 
of  which  often  hide  from  both  teacher  and  adminis- 
trator the  purpose  that  the  organization  should  fulfill. 


232  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  handicaps  to  educational  efficiency  and  progress 
which  these  conditions  involve  are  serious  in  the  ex- 
treme. The  spirit  and  attitude  of  the  individual  teacher 
has  tended  to  become  more  and  more  that  of  the  artisan, 
less  and  less  that  of  the  artist.  The  evils  of  the  "fac- 
tory" system  in  industry  are  all  too  clearly  reproduced 
in  the  institution  that  should  be  as  far  removed  from 
factory  methods  as  possible.  Individual  initiative  is 
almost  certain  to  be  rated  at  a  discount  when  plans 
and  specifications  are  always  handed  down  from  above, 
and  when  one's  duty  is  simply  to  carry  out  orders.  It 
is  small  wonder  that  a  policy  of  this  sort  in  school  ad- 
ministration curtails  ambition  and  represses  enthu- 
siasm. 

The  seriousness  of  the  situation  is  not  limited,  how- 
ever, to  the  formal,  lifeless,  spiritless  teaching  that  such 
a  system  is  likely  to  produce.  Upon  the  teacher  him- 
self and  especially  upon  his  attitude  toward  the  ad- 
ministrative officers,  the  effect  is  often  most  serious. 
Normally,  every  element  inherent  in  schoolcraft  sensi- 
tizes the  teacher  to  the  responsibilities  that  the  work 
involves.  He  or  she  is  not  only  willing  but  anxious  to 
do  good  work.  The  service  itself  stimulates  the  spirit 
of  consecration.  "Overtime"  is  nothing;  all  of  one's 
time  and  all  of  one's  energies  are  at  the  disposal  of 
one's  pupils.  This  is  the  natural  condition  —  the  con- 
dition that  may  even  throw  its  halo  over  the  lame  and 
halting  efforts  of  the  young  and  untrained  girl-teacher 


THE    WEAKEST   LINKS  233 

in  the  isolated  rural  school,  endowing  her  crude  work 
with  that  spirit  of  devoted  service  without  which  the 
most  polished  technique  is  barren  and  empty.  Enter 
into  this  situation  the  foreman,  the  stereotyped  speci- 
fications, the  time  clock  to  be  punched  —  and  the  magic 
spell  is  broken.  The  workshop  where  the  artist  loved 
to  toil  has  become  the  factory  which  he  loathes. 

What  this  condition  has  led  to  in  certain  communities 
is  sufficiently  serious  to  justify  grave  concern  over  the 
possibilities  that  may  be  realized  on  a  larger  scale. 
With  school  administrators  and  classroom  teachers  in 
a  state  either  of  actual  opposition  or  of  armed  neutrality, 
there  can  be  no  real  educational  progress.  Beyond  this, 
however,  there  is,  from  the  point  of  view  of  national 
welfare,  a  danger  that  cannot  be  overlooked.  A  group 
of  teachers  who,  with  or  without  reason,  have  developed 
an  aggressive  class-consciousness  and  adopted  a  militant 
class-attitude  cannot  fail  to  indoctrinate  their  pupils  with 
their  own  bitterness  and  resentment.  The  unhappy  — 
sometimes  tragic  —  effect  upon  children  of  constant 
quarrels  and  bickerings  between  parents  has  been 
recognized  by  authorities  in  mental  hygiene.  A  quite 
analogous  danger  arises  in  the  school  in  which  the 
teachers  and  the  school  authorities  are  at  swords'  points. 
To  permit  in  our  school  system  a  condition  to  develop 
in  which  such  opposition  may  easily  result  in  a  permanent 
cleavage  between  two  groups  that  should  work  in  ab- 
solute harmony  is  to  invite  something  more  than  school 


234  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

inefficiency.    On  a  large  scale,  indeed,  such  a  condition 
can  spell  nothing  less  than  national  disaster. 

The  way  out  of  this  difficulty  is  to  recognize  the 
teacher  who  has  served  his  or  her  apprenticeship  suc- 
cessfully as  something  more  than  an  artisan  —  to  give 
him  or  her  recognitions,  responsibilities,  and  privileges 
that  are  consistent  with  the  significance  of  the  service. 
One  method  that  has  much  to  commend  it  is  to  delegate 
to  the  teachers  as  a  group,  or  to  representative  councils 
of  the  teachers,  definite  responsibilities  that  are  similar 
to  those  usually  intrusted  to  college  and  university 
faculties.  These  would  involve  the  right  especially 
to  propose  educational  policies,  and  the  right  to  be  heard 
when  changes  in  educational  policy  which  have  been 
proposed  by  others  are  under  discussion.  Recognition 
of  this  sort  would  do  vastly  more  than  merely  mollify 
a  group  of  malcontents.  It  would  bring  to  the  service 
of  the  school  authorities  and  the  public  the  large  fund 
of  first-hand  experience  in  dealing  with  educational 
problems  which  classroom  teachers  alone  possess.  It 
would  mean  that  such  matters  as  changes  in  courses  of 
study,  the  introduction  of  new  methods  and  new  text- 
books, and  the  standards  of  promotion  and  gradation 
could  not  be  decided  without  having  been  submitted 
to  the  consideration  of  the  teachers  themselves.  That 
the  teachers  should  have  the  only  or  the  final  voice  in 
determining  educational  policies  is  not  at  all  proposed 
in  such  a  plan.     The  control  of  public  schools  must  rest 


THE   WEAKEST  LINKS  235 

in  the  last  analysis  with  the  people  themselves,  acting 
through  their  representatives,  —  the  boards  of  educa- 
tion. It  is  clear,  however,  that  proposals  involving 
professional  issues  should  either  come  from  the  pro- 
fessional workers  or  be  passed  upon  by  these  workers 
before  being  finally  adopted  or  rejected  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people. 

There  is  a  distinct  need,  too,  for  a  much  more  compre- 
hensive participation  by  classroom  teachers  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  profession  itself.  The  state  teachers'  associa- 
tions are  rapidly  becoming  delegate  bodies,  representing 
local  and  sectional  organizations  of  teachers,  and  the 
National  Education  Association  is  now  planning  a 
reorganization  on  a  representative  basis,  with  the  state, 
sectional,  and  local  associations  as  constituent  units. 

This  means  that  the  teachers  as  a  group  will  in- 
evitably wield  a  far  greater  influence  in  the  future  than 
they  have  wielded  in  the  past.  That  this  influence 
may  bring  the  largest  possible  returns  to  public  welfare, 
it  is  essential  to  place  a  proper  emphasis  upon  the  pro- 
fessional preparation  of  teachers.  Such  a  policy  alone 
can  counteract  the  present  perilous  tendencies  toward 
the  development  of  this  unfortunate  class-conscious- 
ness among  the  classroom  teachers  as  contrasted  with 
the  administration  and  supervisory  officers.  Such  a 
policy  alone  can  meet  the  Nation's  greatest  educational 
need  —  a  mature,  permanent,  and  generously  prepared 
teacher  for  every  classroom  in  the  land. 


036  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

(C)   School  Inefficiency 

A  third  result  of  the  low  estimate  in  which  the  teacher's 
service  is  held  and  of  the  consequent  inadequacy  of 
the  training  agencies  is  in  the  low  level  of  school  effi- 
ciency as  a  whole.  ''Emergency"  licenses  have  been 
issued  during  the  past  two  years  in  much  larger  propor- 
tions than  ever  before,  but  they  have  always  been  issued 
far  more  frequently  than  they  should  be.  More  than 
this,  as  has  been  repeatedly  pointed  out,  the  great 
majority  of  teachers  in  the  smaller  schools  have  never 
been  adequately  trained  for  their  work.  The  results 
that  have  followed  from  this  situation  are  serious  enough 
when  individual  pupils  alone  are  considered ;  but  the 
results  upon  the  strength  and  efficiency  of  the  Nation 
are  far  more  disastrous. 

Some  of  these  results  have  already  been  referred  to  in 
the  discussion  of  illiteracy,  limited  literacy,  and  physical 
deficiencies.  Another  condition  closely  related  to  these 
was  brought  to  public  attention  by  the  Army  records,  al- 
though the  situation  that  it  revealed  has  been  recognized 
by  public-school  workers  for  two  decades.  The  reference 
here  is  to  the  low  average  schooling  of  the  drafted  men,  — 
representing  again  the  low  average  schooling  of  the  gen- 
eral population.  The  average  school  attendance  of  the 
drafted  men  was  found  to  be  but  little  more  than  six  years. 
This  means,  in  general,  that,  of  all  the  children  who  have 
entered  the  first  grade  of  the  public  schools,  a  majority 
have  failed  to  complete  the  work  of  the  seventh  grade. 


THE    WEAKEST   LINKS  237 

The  fundamental  cause  of  this  unfortunate  showing 
is  to  be  sought  in  the  inadequacy  of  the  teaching.  Other 
causes  have  cooperated,  of  course,  in  producing  this 
result,  —  poverty  of  parents  and  communities,  a  school 
program  ill  adapted  to  the  abilities  of  many  children,  a 
lack  of  appreciation  of  education  upon  the  part  of  parents, 

—  but  after  all  due  allowance  has  been  given  to  these 
factors,  the  outstanding  fact  of  teaching  inefficiency 
still  looms  as  the  largest  single  factor,  and  the  weak- 
ness that  can  be  most  easily  and  most  quickly  rem- 
edied. 

The  justice  and  validity  of  this  position  will  not  be 
gainsaid  by  anyone  familiar  with  the  situation  —  but 
unfortunately  the  average  citizen  is  not  familiar  with 
the  situation.  He  is  likely  to  think  of  teaching  as  a 
relatively  simple  task,  and  of  its  simplicity  as  increasing 
as  one  descends  the  age  scale.  To  collegiate  and  high- 
school  teaching  he  may  perhaps  attribute  certain  diffi- 
culties, but  anyone  who  can  "keep  order"  can  teach 
little  children.  In  this  plausible  but  thoroughly  falla- 
cious point  of  view  lies  the  tragedy  of  the  lower  schools, 

—  a  collective  tragedy  that  finds  concrete  expression  in 
millions  of  individual  children  who  are  unable  to  do  the 
work  of  the  school  because  the  fine  art  of  adapting  that 
work  to  the  widely  varying  capacities  and  abilities  of 
children  has  never  been  recognized.  Expert  teaching 
can  solve  this  problem,  and  expert  teachers  can  be  pro- 
vided by  an  adequate  system  of  selection  and  training. 


238  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

THE  NORMAL-SCHOOL  SITUATION 

Such  a  system  does  not  exist  in  this  country  to-day. 
All  of  the  states,  and  many  of  the  cities,  support  normal 
schools,  and  many  of  these  institutions  render  excellent 
service  by  sending  into  the  lower  schools  a  small  but 
steady  flow  of  well-equipped  teachers.  But,  taking  the 
Nation  as  a  whole,  the  normal  school  system  is  utterly 
inadequate.  The  normal  schools  themselves  are  more 
penuriously  supported  by  the  public  than  is  any  other 
type  of  educational  institution  of  comparable  grade. 
Their  instructors  are  notoriously  underpaid  and  over- 
worked in  spite  of  the  momentous  character  of  their 
service  —  for  what  service  is  more  momentous  than  that 
which  prepares  the  teachers  for  the  Nation's  schools? 
The  period  of  training  is  far  too  short  for  effective  work ; 
the  maximum  preparation  for  prospective  elementary 
teachers  involves  only  two  years  of  professional  study 
and  training  following  the  high  school,  and  this,  as  has 
been  pointed  out  earlier  in  this  chapter,  must  be  looked 
upon,  not  as  a  maximum  but  as  the  barest  minimum. 

The  most  deplorable  fact  regarding  the  normal  schools, 
however,  is  that  they  do  not  attract  students  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  begin  to  meet  the  need  for  trained  teachers. 
Even  in  the  pre-war  years  their  total  annual  output  of 
graduates  never  amounted  in  the  aggregate  to  more  than 
one  fifth  of  the  number  of  recruits  needed  each  year  in  the 
teaching  service.     Indeed,   if  the  number  of  graduates 


THE   WEAKEST  LINKS  239 

who  do  not  serve  in  the  schools  is  subtracted  from  the 
total  output,  the  annual  contribution  of  the  normal 
schools  is  but  barely  adequate  to  furnish  the  new  teachers 
needed  because  of  the  increase  in  the  general  population. 
For  the  five  years  before  the  war,  the  average  number  of 
new  teaching  positions  opened  each  year  was  not  less  than 
12,000.  During  these  years,  the  public  normal-school 
graduating  classes  averaged  not  more  than  18,000.  When 
one  remembers  that  the  total  number  of  vacancies  to  be 
filled  each  year  is  upward  of  100,000  the  quota  of  trained 
teachers  supplied  by  the  normal  schools  appears  to  be 
almost  negligible.  It  is  far  from  negligible  because 
the  better  service  rendered  by  this  small  fraction  of 
trained  teachers  stands  out  in  conspicuous  contrast  to 
that  of  the  immature  and  untrained  recruit;  but  this 
very  fact  only  serves  to  bring  into  high  relief  the  in- 
adequacies of  the  system. 

The  conclusion  is  inescapable  that  a  comprehensive 
and  nation-wide  program  for  the  preparation  of  public- 
school  teachers  is  a  matter  of  imperative  concern  to  the 
Nation.  The  steps  that  should  be  immediately  taken 
to  enlarge  and  improve  the  teacher-training  agencies 
will  be  discussed  in  Chapter  XXI.  In  the  following 
chapter  the  steps  essential  to  the  solution  of  the  rural- 
school  problem  will  claim  attention. 


CHAPTER  XX 

The  Equalization  of  Educational  Opportunities 

In  Chapters  XVIII  and  XIX  the  outstanding  weak- 
nesses revealed  by  the  war  were  traced  to  an  educational 
system  that  is  defective  at  the  very  points  at  which, 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Nation,  it  should  have  the  greatest 
strength.  In  so  far  as  the  rural  schools  are  concerned, 
the  situation  thus  revealed  may  be  conveniently  re- 
ferred to  as  a  gross  inequality  of  educational  opportunity 
and  its  correction  must  involve  policies  and  programs 
that  will  aim  to  reduce  these  inequalities.  It  should  be 
insisted  (i)  that  such  a  reduction  must  involve  a  "level- 
ing up"  rather  than  a  "leveling  down,"  and  (2)  that  it 
is  urged  not  only  as  a  matter  of  justice  to  individuals 
who  are  now  denied  adequate  opportunities,  but  more 
fundamentally  as  a  means  of  insuring  national  security 
and  promoting  national  progress. 

To  establish  firmly  the  principle  of  tax-support  for 
public  education  has  required  a  long,  uphill  struggle, 
and  the  struggle  has  been  the  more  difficult  the  larger 
the  unit  of  taxation.  Even  in  the  "neighborhood" 
unit  —  the  local  school  district  —  the  individual  citizen 
was  slow  to  see  both  the  justice  and  the  expediency  of 
contributing  through  taxation  to  the  education  of  other 

240 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      24I 

people's  children.  The  notion  that  the  value  of  his 
property  and  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  his  own 
family  depended  upon  the  morality,  the  intelligence,  and 
the  industry  of  his  neighbors  was  slow  to  dawn.  But 
eventually  the  light  came.  Far  more  difficult  of  develop- 
ment has  been  the  notion  that  the  welfare  of  each  unit  — 
neighborhood,  town,  county,  or  state  —  depends  upon 
the  level  of  intelligence  that  characterizes  every  other 
unit.  Slowly  but  surely,  however,  this  principle  has 
taken  root,  and  the  roots  have  deepened  and  ramified. 
To-day  the  principle  of  general  state  taxation  for  school 
purposes  is  fairly  well  established.1  Eventually  the 
logical  extension  of  the  principle  will  carry  the  taxing 
unit  to  boundaries  no  less  circumscribed  than  those  of 
the  Nation  itself.  That  no  unit  less  comprehensive  can 
satisfy  the  educational  needs  of  the  new  era  is  the  thesis 
of  the  present  chapter. 

The  Justification  of  "General  School  Funds" 

While  the  essential  justice  of  a  large  taxing  unit  for 
the  support  of  schools  has  only  recently  been  clearly 
recognized,  efforts  were  made  very  early  to  establish 
permanent  state  school  funds,  —  the  interest  on  which 
was  to  be  distributed  to  the  separate  towns,  townships, 
or  school  districts.     These  were   not,  however,    funds 

1  An  excellent  account  of  the  struggle  for  this  principle  is  found  in 
Cubberley's  Public  Education  in  the  United  Slates,  pp.  118-181  ;   also, 
pp.  480-492. 
s 


242  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

raised  by  general  taxation ;  they  were  rather  funds 
derived  from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  and  consequently 
were  not  ''felt"  by  the  tax-payer.  Connecticut  was 
especially  fortunate  in  the  sale  of  her  Western  Reserve 
and  the  money  thus  derived  became  a  permanent  state 
school  fund.  The  states  that  were  formed  from  the 
public  domain,  —  the  land  originally  ceded  to  the 
Federal  Government  by  the  original  states,  together 
with  all  other  territory  acquired  through  purchase,  dis- 
covery, or  conquest,  —  sought  in  various  ways  to  estab- 
lish state  funds,  the  interest  on  which  should  be  used 
for  the  support  of  education ;  but  again  the  funds  were 
not  tax-derived. 

The  establishment  of  general  state  funds  based  upon 
the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  lands,  however,  paved  the 
way  for  a  general  state  school  tax,  particularly  by 
making  necessary  the  framing  of  plans  and  principles 
governing  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  funds. 
The  constitutions  of  the  states  frequently  provided 
a  method  of  distribution.1  The  plan  commonly  followed 
in  the  earlier  days  was  to  give  to  the  local  school  district 
a  sum  proportionate  to  its  "school  population."  The 
"school  age"  was  usually  from  six  to  twenty-one;  in 
some  cases  it  was  four  to  twenty ;  in  still  others  it  was 
from  six  to  sixteen.     This  method  of  distribution  was, 

1  See  Swift's  Public  Permanent  Common  School  Funds,  Part  II,  for 
details;  also,  Cubberley's  Public  Education  in  the  United  States,  pp.  118- 
354- 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      243 

at  the  time,  defended  on  the  basis  of  its  fairness,  but 
it  is  clear  that  the  moneys  so  distributed  served  to 
equalize  in  a  measure  the  school  facilities  in  sections  of 
varying  wealth.  They  were  in  effect  a  stimulation,  a 
subsidy. 

Usually  Constitutional  conditions  were  attached  to 
the  distribution  of  the  fund,  —  a  minimum  term  of  three 
months  of  school  each  year ;  a  legally  qualified  teacher ; 
no  sectarian  instruction.  The  fund,  in  other  words, 
became  an  agency  through  which  the  larger  interests 
of  the  state  could  be  safeguarded.  The  sovereign 
powers  of  the  states,  of  course,  could  be  exerted  in  a 
direct  control  without  this  agency,  but,  consistently 
with  the  ideals  of  local  self-government,  the  states  on 
the  whole  have  been  slow  directly  to  command  the  local 
school  officers  to  do  all  of  the  desired  things.  It  is  much 
more  in  harmony  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  tradition  of 
local  autonomy  that  these  ends  should  be  indirectly 
secured  by  controlling  the  distribution  of  public  moneys. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  trace  the  genesis 
of  the  state  public  school  funds.  That  has  already  been 
most  admirably  done.1  The  income  of  these  funds,  in 
terms  of  total  expenditures  for  public  schools  in  the 
several  states,  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  table  in 
columns  eight  and  nine.  The  other  columns  show  the 
source  of  the  balance  of  the  moneys  expended  for  the 
maintenance  and  support  of  public  schools. 

1  See  Part  II  of  Swift's  Public  Permanent  Common  School  Funds. 


244 


THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


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EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      245 


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246  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  table  also  shows  that  the  states,  almost  without 
exception,  now  raise  a  fund  by  taxation  and  then  dis- 
tribute this  to  the  different  school  units.  This  fund  is 
usually  distributed  with  conditions  attached.  Since 
both  the  amount  of  tax  and  the  conditions  of  its  distri- 
bution are  wholly  legislative,  they  are  subject  to  frequent 
change.  In  this  way,  the  separate  school  units  may  be 
stimulated  to  undertake  special  types  of  work,  such  as 
manual  training,  agriculture,  and  domestic  science.  In 
many  states,  a  part  of  this  state  tax-money  is  set  aside  for 
the  encouragement  of  high  schools.  In  oneistate,  a  part 
of  the  "mill  tax"  has  been  set  aside  to  induce  country 
schools  to  install  modern  heating  and  ventilating  systems. 

The  theory  governing  the  state  "millage  tax"  for 
school  purposes,  then,  has  gradually  been  crystallized 
through  legislative  practice  in  two  propositions  : 

1.  All  the  wealth  of  the  state  should,  in  justice,  be 
taxed  to  pay  a  part  of  the  expense  of  educating  all  of  the 
children  of  the  state. 

2.  A  portion  of  the  money  raised  by  the  general  state  tax 
for  school  purposes  may  properly  be  used  for  the  purpose 
of  stimulating  school  units  to  undertake  special  forms  of 
educational  endeavor,  deemed  desirable  by  the  Legislature. 

There  is,  however,  a  fundamental  implication  of  public 
education  that  has  not  as  yet  found  clear  expression  in 
legislative  enactments.  The  free  public  school  is  not 
simply  the  cooperative  effort  of  the  parents  whose 
children  attend  the  school.     It  is  not  simply  the  effort 


EQUALIZATION   OF  EDUCATIONAL  OPPORTUNITIES      247 

of  the  community,  nor  of  the  state.  The  Nation  has  an 
interest  and  a  stake  in  every  boy  and  girl.  The  free 
public  school  must  represent  the  opportunity  for  each 
individual  to  acquire  and  develop  those  qualities  of  body, 
mind,  and  heart  that  make  it  possible  for  him  to  be  of 
the  highest  service  not  only  to  himself  and  his  state,  but 
also  to  his  country.  For  the  sake  of  the  Nation  as  well 
as  for  the  sake  of  the  individual,  the  free  public  school 
must  stand  for  the  ideal  of  equality  of  educational  oppor- 
tunity in  the  sense  that  every  individual  should,  for 
the  Nation's  sake,  have  the  largest  and  widest  educa- 
tional advantages  that  the  collective  resources  of  the 
Nation  can  equitably  and  reasonably  provide. 

This  equality  of  educational  opportunity  does  not 
exist  to-day  within  a  single  one  of  our  states.  The 
state  laws,  for  example,  prescribe  a  minimum  length 
of  school  year.  In  general,  this  minimum  is  the  actual 
length  of  the  school  year  in  the  rural  districts  and 
the  small  villages,  while  in  the  cities  the  school  year 
is  longer.  Again,  the  wages  paid  in  the  rural  districts  and 
in  the  small  villages  are  usually  much  lower  than  those 
paid  in  the  cities;  consequently,  as  the  preceding 
chapters  pointed  out,  the  teachers  in  rural  and  village 
schools  are,  as  a  group,  far  less  competent  than  are  the 
teachers  who  serve  in  the  cities  for  the  longer  term 
each  year  at  a  much  higher  monthly  wage.  The 
apparatus  and  aids  to  learning  are  not  so  abundantly 
supplied  in  rural  and  village  schools  as  in  city  schools. 


248  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  cause  back  of  these  discrepancies  and  inequalities 
has  already  been  referred  to.  The  schools  are  supported 
very  largely  by  local  taxation  and  the  per  capita  wealth 
in  the  sparsely  settled  areas  is  almost  always  lower  than 
in  the  thickly  populated  areas,  while  the  cost  of  operating 
schools  with  equal  advantages  is  very  much  higher, 
pupil  for  pupil. 

What  does  this  standard  of  equality  of  educational 
opportunity  mean?  It  means  that  each  boy  and  girl 
should  have,  substantially,  as  good  a  school  to  attend 
as  any  boy  or  girl  has  to  attend.  It  means  making  all 
schools  equally  good  in  all  fundamental  matters,  not 
by  lowering  the  standards  of  the  best  schools,  but  by 
raising  those  of  the  poor  and  mediocre  schools.  These 
fundamental  matters  are : 

1.  Properly  heated,  ventilated,  and  lighted  school- 
rooms. 

2.  Healthful  working  conditions  and  proper  instruc- 
tional equipment. 

3.  A  sufficiently  diversified  program  of  studies  and 
work  to  furnish  the  basal  ideas  and  ideals  demanded  by 
our  expanding  and  developing  social  life. 

4.  A  properly  graded,  organized,  and  supervised 
curriculum  of  studies. 

5.  A  teacher  adequately  qualified  as  to  personality, 
maturity  of  mind,  uprightness  of  character,  range  of 
knowledge,  and  teaching  skill. 

Judged  by  these  standards,  there  is  no  state  that  offers 


EQUALIZATION   OF  EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      240 

equality  of  educational  opportunity,  —  there  is  scarcely 
a  county.  Of  late,  several  states,  in  order  to  protect 
the  children  from  insanitary  conditions,  have  assumed 
some  measure  of  oversight  regarding  the  building  of 
school  houses;  a  few  states  have  established  and  en- 
forced minimum  standards  in  such  matters  as  seating 
and  apparatus ;  many  states  have  courses  of  study,  but 
these  are  often  only  suggestive  or  optional,  and  when 
they  are  prescriptive,  the  states  generally  lack  facilities 
for  insuring  that  they  are  properly  administered.  Gra- 
dation, organization,  and  supervision  are  in  most  of  the 
states  at  a  very  low  degree  of  efficiency  when  one  con- 
siders the  schools  as  a  whole.  Every  state  has  different 
grades  of  teachers'  licenses,  —  the  lowest  grade  of 
certificate  being  found  in  abundance  where  salaries  are 
low,  and  the  highest  grade  of  certificate  being  most 
abundant  where  the  salaries  are  highest. 

The  teacher  is  the  key  to  the  situation.  The  question 
of  qualified  teachers  cannot  be  considered  without 
involving  the  salary  question.  The  salary  question 
brings  up  the  ever-present  question  of  taxation. 
Taxation  levies  upon  individual  and  corporate  property, 
and  to  increase  taxation  arouses  opposition  and  involves 
political  entanglements.  It  is  perfectly  clear,  however, 
that  our  public  schools  cannot  hold  their  own  in  a  world 
of  inflated  currency,  high  wages,  and  high  prices  unless 
more  money  is  spent  upon  them.  The  war  only  accen- 
tuated and  set  in  clear  relief  a  condition  that  was  already 


250  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

growing  intolerable  except  in  cities  where  wealth  and 
public  spirit  happened  to  coincide. 

Conditions  in  Typical  States 

The  preparation  of  the  teacher  will  be  dealt  with  in 
the  following  chapter ;  our  concern  here  is  only  with  the 
money  cost  of  good  public  schools. 

It  is  not  easy  to  get  accurate  financial  data  for  the 
several  state  school  systems.  The  rates  of  assessment 
for  purposes  of  taxation  often  bear  little  or  no  uniform 
relation  to  the  real  wealth  of  the  different  local  units 
in  a  state.  A  few  states  have  brought  their  assessment- 
rates  substantially  to  a  fair  cash-value  basis.  In  such  a 
state  it  is  easy  to  make  comparisons.  A  table  (pp.  252- 
253)  has  been  constructed  to  show  the  wealth  of  the 
different  counties  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  the  per 
capita  wealth,  and  the  taxable  wealth  that  is  back  of 
each  child  of  school  age  in  the  several  counties.  The 
figures  speak  for  themselves.  The  extremes  are  $2498 
for  each  child  in  Marinette  County  against  $8976  per 
child  in  Green  County.  To  raise  $30  for  each  child 
by  taxation  would  require  a  tax  of  1 2  mills  in  Marinette 
County  and  of  3.3  mills  in  Green  County. 

This  inequality  of  financial  ability  is  partially  over- 
come in  Wisconsin  by  a  state  tax  of  seven  tenths  of  a 
mill  on  all  the  property  of  the  state.  The  fund  thus 
raised  is  distributed  back  to  the  counties  on  the  basis 
of  the  number  of  persons  of  school  age.    This  form  of 


EQUALIZATION   OF  EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      25 1 

state  aid  operates  only  to  lower  the  necessary  millage  of 
direct  taxation  in  each  county  or  in  each  local  school 
unit ;  it  fails  entirely  to  equalize  the  tax  rate  for  the 
support  of  education.  A  high  rate  of  taxation  tends 
to  lower  the  sale  values  of  all  real  estate  affected  because 
what  is  paid  in  taxes  is  not  available  as  profits.  There- 
fore, all  taxing  bodies  seek  to  keep  taxes  at  as  low  a  rate 
as  possible. 

The  system  of  distribution  in  Wisconsin,  then,  tends 
to  lower  the  local  tax  rate  for  the  support  of  schools. 
The  districts  do  not  have  more  by  the  amount  of  the 
state  "distributive"  school  fund.1  This  result  is  prob- 
ably not  what  the  makers  of  Wisconsin's  Constitution 
intended,  for  it  was  the  Constitution  of  1848  that 
settled  the  policy  of  distribution.2 

1  In  fairness  it  should  be  stated  that  there  is  a  provision  in  the  Wis- 
consin law  by  which  school  units  cannot  share  in  the  state  funds  unless 
they  have  raised  as  much  by  local  taxation  in  the  preceding  year  as  their 
share  of  the  state  fund  amounts  to.  Since  the  state  fund  is  less  than 
$3  per  person  of  school  age,  the  law  just  mentioned  practically  affects 
only  those  districts  that  are  largely  served  by  parochial  schools. 

2  The  Wisconsin  Legislature,  by  Chapter  622,  Laws  of  1919,  has  pro- 
vided that  "  hereafter  no  school  district  shall  be  formed  with  an  assessed 
valuation  of  $75,000  or  less  without  the  consent  of  the  State  Superin- 
tendent." Special  state  aid  is  provided  for  existing  "districts  having  an 
existing  valuation  of  $75,000  or  less,  so  that  no  such  district  will  be 
required  to  levy  a  tax  for  teachers'  wages  in  excess  of  five  mills  on  the 
dollar."  A  five-mill  tax  on  $75,000  is  $375.  The  minimum  salary  is 
$60  a  month  and  the  minimum  term  is  eight  months.  The  minimum 
amount  for  teachers'  wages  is  $480.  Districts  with  $75,000  or  less  of 
assessed  valuation  will  receive  $105  or  more  of  state  aid ;  that  is,  a  real 
equalization  subsidy. 


252 


THE  NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 


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EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      253 


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254 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


As  a  further  illustration,  let  us  take  a  state  that  has 
not  had  a  Tax  Commission,  leaving  assessments  to 
townships  and  boroughs  and  having  only  an  imperfect 
county  and  state  equalization  system.  From  the  many, 
we  shall  choose  Pennsylvania  as  fairly  typical.  The 
table  (pp.  256-257)  shows  the  wealth  assessed  for  school 
purposes,  the  wealth  per  capita  that  is  back  of  each 
person  of  school  age  (six  to  twenty),  and  the  millage 
necessary  to  provide  $30  for  each  person  of  school  age. 
The  facts  are  so  plain  as  to  need  no  comment.  The 
extreme  variation  in  current  rates  is  found  by  comparing 
Union  County  (millage  5.42)  with  Susquehanna  County 
(millage  19.03).  To  raise  $30  for  each  person  of  school 
age  (6  to  20,  1910)  would  require  a  tax  rate  of  6.44  mills 
in  Green  County  and  50.3  mills  in  Susquehanna 
County. 

This  wide  diversity  in  tax  rate  exists  in  Pennsylvania 
in  spite  of  a  very  generous  state  fund  that  is  distributed 
to  the  districts,  one  half  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of 
children  from  six  to  sixteen,  and  one  half  on  the  basis 
of  the  number  of  teachers  employed.  A  district  with 
only  seven  months  of  school  gets  as  much  for  the  teachers 
employed  and  as  much  for  the  children  of  school  age 
as  does  a  district  that  has  nine  or  even  ten  months  of 
school.  Yet,  as  a  general  rule,  the  districts  with  the 
lowest  tax  rates  have  the  longest  terms,  pay  the  highest 
salaries,  and  have  the  best  equipments,  courses  of  study, 
and  supervision. 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      255 


DIAGRAM 

Showing  amount  of  money  behind  each  child  for  school  purposes 
In  16  Counties  in  Pennsylvania                                                                     1916 

Fulton 

Sullivan 

Clearfield 

Mifflin 

Tioga 

Adams 

Crawford 

Luzerne 

Cumberland 

Beaver 

Pike 

Fayette 

Lancaster 

Northampton 

Delaware 

1260 
2010 
2110 
2490 
2560 
S030 
3060 
8480 
8860 
4130 
4270 
6020 
5190 
5320 
7670 

012346678 

1 

DIAGRAM 

Showing  variation  in  rate  of  assessment  and  in  Tax  Rates  for 
school  purposes  in  15  Counties  in  Pennsylvania 


Sullivan 

36 

Pike 

37 

Fayette 

45 

Clearfield 

49 

Northampton 

68 

Delaware 

59 

Mifflin 

62 

Cumberland 

62 

Beaver 

62 

Adams 

64 

Lancaster 

64 

Crawford 

64 

Fulton 

68 

Tioga 

68 

Luzerne 

76 

Figure  4. — The  above  diagrams  are  taken  from  an  article  by  H.  Upde- 
grafi  in  Proc.  Univ.  of  Pa.,  Schoolmen's  Week,  1919,  pp.  134  2- 


256 


THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 


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EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      257 


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5-39 
10.14 
5-93 
7.22 
7.27 

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258  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

But  the  figures  just  quoted  have  scant  significance 
because  the  assessments  are  not  on  a  uniform  basis  in 
the  several  school-taxing  units.  The  figures  are  correct, 
—  but  the  facts  which  they  are  supposed  to  express  are 
not  accurately  revealed  thereby.  Meanwhile,  however, 
the  inequality  of  educational  opportunity  exists  and 
cannot  be  removed  or  remedied  by  additional  moneys 
distributed  on  the  present  bases.1 

This  inequality  exists  within  the  counties  of  a  state 
as  well  as  in  the  state  as  a  whole.  A  county  near  the 
state  average  for  Pennsylvania  is  presented  on  page  259 
so  that  the  inequality  may  be  seen  at  a  glance. 

The  comparative  expenditures  for  school  and  road 
purposes  for  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania,  are 
shown  in  the  table  on  page  260.2 

The  facts  that  are  here  presented  about  the  finances 
of  education  in  Pennsylvania  show  clearly  that  equaliza- 
tion of  educational  opportunities  is  practically  impossible 
in  a  state  that  has  no  tax  commission.  The  establish- 
ment of  a  tax  commission  is  a  political  matter  that 
must  be  settled  affirmatively  before  an  educational 
"  square  deal"  becomes  a  possibility. 

1The  diagrams  "on  page  255  are  taken  from  H.  Updegraff's  "  Appli- 
cation of  State  Funds  to  the  Aid  of  Local  Schools,"  Sixth  Annual 
Schoolmen's  Week  Proceedings,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  1919,  pp. 
134  ff. 

2  Quoted  from  the  Washington  County,  Pa.,  School  Annual,  1019, 
p.  51.  County  Superintendent  L.  R.  Crumrine  has  set  an  example 
which  is  worthy  of  emulation. 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL  OPPORTUNITIES      259 


ih    -    m    h   OCO    'tO    nO«Ni 


;CO*iflO  10*0   ^J'  *-"  w  \0   't  OoO 


-t  cot^OoO  100O   O 


O  CO  io-O  t^.  w   o 


O  t"-CO   ro  »i   O   **vO 


m  in  Tt  m  w   ro  rl-  100  G«  f^>^  100O   >-i  CO 
cOCO  "O  CC  \0  O  n  10  so  O  sO  so  O  r^-  O  O 


10CO   -tOxO' 


t*»  r*oO  O  r-00  Oco  t^oo  NQiO»t*  r>-00 


-  t*»co  OcO  co  CO  **  t*  r- 


r^-  <n  so  w  r*»  w  ■<*■  m  Tf  co  Tf 
O  1—  <oso  00  *oso  to  coo  w 
coco  6  loco  ■"tod 


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O  O  O  to  m  r-  O  10 


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h  h   mh  (O  m'vo'oo"  ^wco*OWOtO«^tt^        fO  «   *  W 

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39 


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w  *f  3     w 
£  o  w  " 


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W   w   w   ^t  ■*}■  ■<*  ^-  M   cOfOfO(OfO< 


fOfOWOO        lONTt 

M     M    NM00>O     fOCO  o 
cO<N    cO  -<t  cO  vN    CON    fO 


O   *t  *OnO   <OsO   r»O00  OCO   w   ro  f*  "^ 


^f  *j-  r^.cO  O  O  r-00 


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ro  "t  *oso  r-CO  O  O 


«   M   «  <1   M   (1 


260 


THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


Washington  County  (Pennsylvania)  Tax  Millage 
(The  third  column  of  Totals  includes  4I  mills,  the  uniform  state  and  county  millage.) 


School 

Road 

Total 

School 

Road 

Total 

Allen     .     . 

13 

17! 

Houston    .     .     .     . 

12$ 

11 

28I 

Amwell 

2 

3* 

ioi 

Independence     .     . 

S 

3* 

13I 

Beallsville  . 

6 

S 

iSl 

Jefferson   .     .     .     . 

6 

3 

13! 

Bentleyville 

20 

8 

32I 

Long  Branch      .     . 

9i 

10 

24I 

Blaine   .     . 

6 

4 

I4f 

Marianna       .     .     . 

20 

II 

3Si 

Buffalo .     . 

5 

4 

13! 

Midway    .     .     .     . 

IS 

12 

3il 

Burgettstown 

IS 

14 

33* 

Monongahela     .     . 

IS 

12 

3ii 

California  . 

20 

u 

35i 

Morris 

6 

3* 

14! 

Canonsburg 

IS 

I2j 

32i 

Mt.  Pleasant      .     . 

6* 

3* 

is 

Canton 

6| 

3 

14* 

McDonald     .     .     . 

16 

10 

30J 

Carroll 

10 

8 

22i 

New  Eagle     .    _.     . 

13 

8 

2si 

Cecil      .     . 

8 

4l 

17 

North  Charleroi 

2S 

17 

46i 

Centerville 

7 

10 

2l| 

North  Franklin 

6 

3l 

i4i 

Charleroi   . 

20 

IS 

39! 

North  Strabane 

4 

4$ 

I3l 

Chartiers    . 

S 

4i 

I4l 

Nottingham  .     .     . 

2l 

S 

12 

Claysville  . 

IS 

10 

29! 

Peters 

3* 

4* 

12J 

Coal  Center 

IS 

10 

29! 

Robinson  .     .     .     . 

8 

6 

18} 

Cokeburg  . 

18 

4i 

27» 

Roscoe       .     .     .     . 

16 

IS 

3Sl 

Cross  Creek 

s 

4 

I3| 

Smith 

11 

S 

2o| 

Deemston  . 

2 

6 

i2j 

Somerset  .     .     .     . 

2\ 

s 

I2l 

Donegal     . 

3i 

33 

III 

South  Franklin  .     . 

l| 

2 

8i 

Donora 

17 

12 

33! 

South  Strabane 

3 1 

3i 

12! 

Dunlevy     . 

14 

6 

24i 

Speers 

II 

IS 

30! 

East  Bethlehem 

22 

8 

34! 

Stockdale  .     .     .     . 

18 

4$ 

27i 

East  Finley    . 

3 

S 

12! 

Twilight         .     .     . 

7h 

13 

2Sl 

East  Pike  Run 

IS 

8 

27! 

Union 

7 

7 

18! 

East  Washingtor 

. 

8 

11 

23! 

West  Alexander 

10 

7 

2li 

Elco       .     .     . 

20 

8 

324 

West  Bethlehem 

S 

4* 

14 

Ellsworth  . 

20 

10 

34f 

West  Brownsville   . 

14$ 

18 

37* 

Fallowfield 

Si 

8 

i8i 

West  Finley  .     .     . 

s 

6 

isi 

Finleyville 

10 

IS 

29i 

West  Middletown  . 

13 

3 

20} 

Hanover    . 

5 

3 

12} 

West  Pike  Run 

4i 

IO 

19, 

Hopewell   . 

3* 

2* 

iof 

Washington  .     .     . 

14 

14 

321 

The  Distribution  of  General  School  Funds 
It  should  now  be  evident  that  the  equalization  of 
educational  opportunities  within  a  given  state  is  not 
entirely  a  matter  of  state  distributive  funds  although 
such  funds  are  the  first  condition  of  equalization. 
Beyond  this,  however,  there  must  be  an  equitable  method 
of  distribution,  —  giving  where  actually  needed  to 
supplement  local  effort  in  communities  in  which  the 
per  capita  wealth  is  low,  and  giving  only  when  the  local 
effort  has  met  a  reasonable  standard  set  by  the  state. 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      26 1 

This  is  the  financial  side  of  the  matter.  The  educational 
side  is  to  be  met  by  wise  legislative  enactments  that 
will  insure  for  each  community  the  fundamental  condi- 
tions underlying  equality  of  educational  opportunity : 
(1)  a  well-qualified  teacher  and  (2)  a  school  term  at  least 
nine  months  in  length.  A  school  taught  by  a  well- 
prepared  teacher  is  obviously  worth  more  to  a  state 
than  is  a  school  taught  by  a  teacher  of  equivalent 
personal  qualities  who  is  without  preparation  for  his 
work,  and  a  school  term  of  nine  months  means  more  to 
the  welfare  of  the  state  than  a  school  term  of  seven 
months.  The  mere  raising  of  large  sums  of  money  by 
state  taxation  and  then  giving  it  back  to  school  units 
cannot  in  itself  insure  equality  of  educational  oppor- 
tunity, no  matter  how  long  the  practice  is  continued 
nor  how  large  the  bounty. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  the  states  have  drifted 
into  their  present  plans  for  the  distribution  of  state 
educational  funds.  The  early  funds  were  merely 
sent  back  to  the  local  districts  on  the  basis  of  total 
population.  Thus  communities  with  relatively  few 
children  of  school  age  (in  general,  urban  communities) 
profited  at  the  expense  of  the  communities  with  rela- 
tively numerous  children  of  school  age  (in  general,  the 
rural  communities).  The  injustice  of  this  policy  led 
to  a  distribution  on  the  basis  of  school  population.  The 
fund  was  small  for  any  school  unit,  and  it  seemed  to  be 
wholly  a  gratuity,  as,  in  many  cases,  it  really  was.     It 


262  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

was  aid  that  acted  as  inducement,  but  it  did  not  guaran- 
tee long  school  terms  and  continuous  attendance.  As 
an  inducement  it  served  its  day  and  generation  well. 
The  progressive  development  of  an  established  insti- 
tution, however,  is  a  very  different  matter  from  merely 
inducing  people  to  establish  it,  and  measures  that 
adequately  serve  the  latter  temporary  purpose  may  not 
meet  the  former  permanent  need.  Of  course,  there  is  a 
"vested  interest"  that  must  not  be  violated,  but  the 
direction  in  which  the  inducement  is  applied  may,  in 
perfect  good  faith,  be  changed  periodically  and  pro- 
gressively for  the  greater  good  of  the  state  and  of  the 
different  school  units. 

When  the  interest  on  state  school  funds  was  supple- 
mented by  state  taxes,  the  same  method  of  distribution 
that  had  been  in  operation  previously  was  applied. 
More  recently  some  of  the  states  have  been  distributing 
a  part  of  their  funds  on  the  basis  of  aggregate  days' 
attendance,  thereby  stimulating  the  local  communities, 
first  to  have  long  school  terms,  and  secondly  to  require 
pupils  to  be  in  continuous  attendance.  Others  dis- 
tribute a  portion  on  the  teacher  basis,  making  a  difference 
in  favor  of  the  teacher  with  the  better  qualifications. 
These  methods  constitute  a  more  equitable  basis  of 
distribution,  but  do  not  alone  and  by  themselves  insure 
a  substantial  equality  of  educational  opportunity.1 

1  West  Virginia  is  just  starting  an  equalization  measure  passed  by 
the  Legislature  in  191 9. 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL  OPPORTUNITIES      263 

It  should  now  be  evident  that  the  financial  aspects 
of  the  equalization  of  educational  opportunities  within 
a  state  involve  many  complicated  problems.  There  is 
all  the  force  of  tradition  and  existing  practice  to  be 
overcome.  Existing  practice  is  often  to  the  advantage 
of  many  school  units ;  they  are  doing  well  and  prosper- 
ing, even  meeting  all  suggested  standards  with  a  plus 
mark  to  their  credit.  They  do  not  wish  existing  con- 
ditions disturbed  in  the  least.  Many  of  them  fear  a 
higher  local  millage  if  steps  toward  equalization  are 
seriously  undertaken.  Other  school  districts  are  fearful 
that  their  school  terms  will  be  lengthened,  that  their 
school  buildings  will  be  condemned,  that  salaries  of 
teachers  will  be  increased,  and  that  qualifications  of 
teachers  will  be  so  raised  and  stated  that  local  girls 
cannot  be  employed  as  teachers  at  the  prevailing  low 
wages.  The  opposition  of  this  group  is  both  consider- 
able and  stubborn.  There  are  other  districts  that 
would  not  be  materially  affected  and  consequently 
they  are  indifferent.  The  districts  that  are  far  below 
the  standard  are  usually  either  unaware  of  the  fact  or 
unwilling  to  admit  it.  Then  there  is  the  heavy  tax- 
payer who  regards  the  whole  proposal  as  just  another 
socialistic  scheme  of  conscripting  wealth. 

Educational  Interdependence 

The  fundamental  fact  behind  all  this  opposition  is 
the  public  attitude  toward  educational  responsibility. 


264  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

The  old  notion  of  education  as  an  individual  advan- 
tage rather  than  a  national  asset  and  necessity 
still  persists.  The  reason  for  the  non-achievement 
of  equality  of  educational  opportunity  is  that  the 
people  generally  have  not  sensed  its  deep  and  funda- 
mental significance  to  the  welfare  of  the  group  as  a 
whole. 

The  old  conception  was  that  the  child  is  the  "prop- 
erty" of  his  parents.  Very  few  parents  now  regard 
their  children  as  property.  They  recognize  their 
responsibility  for  the  development  and  up-bringing  of 
their  children  as  the  direct  result  of  their  having 
brought  these  children  into  existence.  They  earnestly 
and  sincerely  desire  their  children  to  succeed  in  a  very 
complex  social  world.  This  complex  social  world,  it  is 
true,  includes  the  community,  the  state,  and  the  Nation ; 
but  the  child  is  not  educated  simply  on  his  own  account 
nor  on  his  family's  account.  Indeed,  if  it  were  not  for 
these  wider  and  more  complex  social  relationships, 
education  of  the  individual  would  be  impossible,  and  to 
little  purpose  even  if  possible.  It  is  this  broader  and 
more  comprehensive  attitude  that  it  is  so  hard  to 
establish  in  the  collective  thinking  and  the  collective 
action  of  the  people. 

The  plan  of  having  the  local  community  exclusively 
responsible  for  the  public-school  facilities  has  been 
tried,  and  always  with  failure.  The  state  has  found  it 
necessary  to  set  up  standards  of  various  kinds  and  to 


EQUALIZATION   OF  EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      265 

provide  supervision.  And  the  Nation  has  contributed 
in  various  ways. 

The  elemental  truth  is  that  our  form  of  social  organi- 
zation is  complex  and  multiple  instead  of  simple  and 
unitary.  The  community  has  a  relation  to  the  state, 
the  state  has  a  relation  to  the  Nation,  the  Nation  has  a 
relation  to  the  state  and  to  the  community.  The 
individual  has  a  relation  to  the  community,  state,  and 
Nation.  Each  of  the  four  factors,  individual,  com- 
munity, state,  and  Nation,  is  vitally  related  to  each  of 
the  others ;  in  fact,  the  relation  is  organic  in  that  no  one 
could  exist  without  the  other.  Our  recent  participation 
in  the  World  War  has  made  us  keenly  conscious  of  the 
national  aspect  of  this  series  of  relationships.  Every 
sign  to-day  points  to  an  ever-increasing  primacy  of  the 
national  factor. 

Our  Federal  Constitution,  by  silence  in  its  original 
articles  and  by  the  negative  of  the  Tenth  Amendment, 
makes  the  organization,  management,  and  supervision 
of  public  education  exclusively  a  matter  of  state  respon- 
sibility. No  Constitutional  barrier,  however,  lies  against 
the  encouragement  of  public  education  by  the  Federal 
Government.  The  numerous  instances  already  cited 
show  this  clearly.  While  the  early  grants  of  land  were 
without  condition  other  than  that  indicated  by  the 
expressed  purposes  of  the  several  acts,  the  later  ones 
have  set  up  conditions  that  make  the  Federal  aid  con- 
tingent.    This  is  as  it  should  be. 


266  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

If  the  Federal  Government  desires  to  appropriate 
money  to  the  several  states  to  encourage  them  to 
equalize  educational  opportunities  within  their  own 
borders,  it  has  a  clear  right  to  do  it ;  and  in  this  act  the 
Federal  Government  may  include  whatever  conditions 
seem  to  it  reasonable  and  desirable.  The  money  thus 
expended  is  the  property  of  the  United  States.  The 
method  by  which  this  money  gets  into  the  treasury  of 
the  United  States  may  be  a  matter  of  question  and 
argument,  for  no  money  was  ever  raised  by  any  kind  of 
tax  that  was  not  thus  open  to  criticism  and  objec- 
tion. Such  questions  he,  however,  against  the  method 
of  taxation  rather  than  against  the  expenditure  of  the 
tax-revenues.  Those  who  point  out  the  need  of  an 
additional  battleship  are  not  called  upon  to  frame  and 
defend  a  plan  for  raising  the  money,  nor  is  the  person 
who  points  out  the  need  for  repairs  to  a  lighthouse 
expected  to  be  sufficiently  expert  in  revenue  matters 
to  frame  a  bill  that  will  pay  the  costs  of  his  proposal. 

Any  funds  voted  by  Congress  in  aid  of  public  educa- 
tion will  be  raised  largely  by  income  and  corporation 
taxes.  They  may  come  in  part  from  taxes  on  imports, 
or  taxes  on  amusements,  or  on  railroad  fares,  or  on 
checks,  drafts,  notes,  agreements,  and  deeds;  but 
while  there  are  many  possible  sources  of  revenue,  it  is 
practically  certain  that  the  tax  on  incomes  will  be  the 
main  source  of  revenue  for  governmental  purposes. 
The  income  tax,  since  the  adoption  of  the  Sixteenth 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      267 

Amendment,  has  been  as  constitutional  as  the  Consti- 
tution itself.  And  the  income  tax  is  recognized  as 
vastly  more  equitable  and  just  than  are  the  forms  of 
taxation  now  depended  upon  almost  exclusively  to 
support  the  public  schools. 


Figure  5.  —  (<z)  Amount  of  taxable  wealth  behind  each  person  of 
school  age  in  the  several  sections  of  the  United  States,  and  in  one  state  of  each 
section;  (6)  Average  number  of  days'  attendance  by  each  child,  5-18 
(1915-16);  and  (c)   Average  monthly  wage  of  all  teachers  (1915-16). 


It  will  be  well  to  have  the  main  facts  regarding  the 
wealth  of  the  different  states  clearly  in  mind.  The 
following  table  shows  the  total  wealth  in  191 2,  the  per 
capita  of  wealth,  the  taxable  wealth  back  of  each 
teacher,  and  the  taxable  wealth  back  of  each  person  of 
school  age.  The  diagram  above  shows  graphically  the 
main  facts  of  the  table  on  the  following  page. 


268 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 


Continental  United  States: . 
North  Atlantic  Division 
North  Central  Division 
South  Atlantic  Division 
South  Central  Division  . 
Western  Division  .     .     . 


North  Atlantic.  Division: 

Maine 

New  Hampshire  .  . 
Vermont  .  .  .  . 
Massachusetts  .  . 
Rhode  Island  .  .  . 
Connecticut  .  .  . 
New  York  .  .  .  . 
New  Jersey .  .  .  . 
Pennsylvania    .     .     . 


North  Central  Division: 

Ohio 

Indiana  .... 
Illinois  .... 
Michigan  ... 
Wisconsin  .  .  . 
Minnesota    .     .     . 

Iowa 

Missouri .... 
North  Dakota 
South  Dakota  .     . 
Nebraska     .     .     . 
Kansas    .... 


South  Atlantic  Division: 
Delaware  .  .  .  . 
Maryland  .  .  .  . 
District  of  Columbia 
Virginia  ._.... 
West  Virginia  .  .  . 
North  Carolina  .  . 
South  Carolina      .     . 

Georgia 

Florida 


South  Central  Division: 
Kentucky  .  .  . 
Tennessee  .  .  . 
Alabama  .  .  . 
Mississippi  .  .  . 
Louisiana  .  .  . 
Texas  .... 
Arkansas  .  .  . 
Oklahoma    .     .     . 


Western  Division: 

Montana      .  . 

Wyoming     .  . 

Colorado      .  . 

New  Mexico  . 

Arizona   .     .  . 

Utah  .    .    .  . 

Nevada  .    .  . 

Idaho      .    .  . 
Washington 

Oregon     .     .  . 

California     .  . 


Wealth 
Estimated 
for  1912 


$174,733,199,730 


Wealth 

1912  PER 

Capita 

1916 


52,333,998,957 
67,168,972,568 
13,777,891,828 
22,030,350,816 
19,421,985,561 


1,030,366,547 

613,441,572 

496,935,964 

5,735,23o,n5 

892,693,47s 

2,i53,5n,444 

21,912,629,507 

5,361,917,422 

14,137,272,911 


8,552; 

4,951 

14,596 

5,169 

4,282 
5,266 

7.437 
5,546 
2,037 
1,33° 
3,605 
4,393 


130,667 
061,490 
467,087 
,022,582 
454,539 
,950,787 
,094,834 
,493,103 
,626,024 
,693,417 
,133,830 
,844,208 


293: 

2,002 

767 
2,174 
2,179 

1,745 
1,301 
2,299 
1,014 


721,979 
216,720 
316,951 
685,192 
527,639 
233,696 
406,985 
,i97,59o 
,585,076 


2,152,097,565 
1,734,354,927 
2,050,014,767 
1,306,384,960 
2,056,572,346 
6,552,242,164 
1,757,533,669 
4,321,150,418 


1,113,008,146 

344,834,812 

2,286,478,777 

501,627,424 

487,099,365 

734,811,880 

441,382,827 

591,073,842 

3,054,690,780 

1,843,542,127 

8,023,435,581 


51,712.77 


1,810.86 
2,090.93 
1,036.24 
1,150.26 
2,272.91 


1,333-82 
1,386.29 
1,366.33 
1,542-07 
1,453-15 
1,730-45 
2,132-95 
1,818.82 
1,658.91 


1,660.49 
1,757-67 
2,372.53 
1,692.06 
1,712.74 
2,310.46 
3,349-55 
1,626.21 
2,756.52 
1,905.04 
2,835.61 
2,401.05 


1,376.52 

1,469.18 

2,108.12 

992.09 

1,572.48 

726.35 

800.63 

805.02 

1,135-52 


3 

Wealth 
191 2  PER 
Teacher 
1915-16 


$280,754.08 


904.38 

801.72 

878.85 

669.36 

1,124.34 

1,479.21 

1,010.23 

1,962.30 


2,422.24 
1,920.45 
2,376.64 
1,222.63 
1,906.12 
1,692.79 
4,135-35 
1,379-12 
i,99l-03 
2,205.87 
2,730-30 


342,535-86 
291.623.13 
180,301.13 
207,516.35 
342.654.25 


147,934.89 
l98,975-53 
166,088.22 
327,971.07 
321,923.35 
335,281.24 
408,871.11 
320,286.56 
330,874.45 


268,774.24 
251,988.06 
437,491-52 
246,390.32 
262,920.83 
296,012.52 
273,l2l-36 
274,470.16 
251,776.35 
188,563.61 
285,985.54 
288,253.24 


276,574-36 
309,940.66 
429,388.33 
l65,753-44 
211,112.71 
119,947-33 
156,175.08 
152,811.21 
i76,94i-93 


167,218.14 
141,966.94 
185,421.01 
119,271.88 
269,855-96 
239,500.04 
164,840.89 
339,686.37 


235,258.53 
198,752.05 
347,859.23 
258,038.79 
316,503.81 
229,270.47 
671,815.56 
168,589.23 
328,638.06 
298,646.05 
463,166.63 


equalization  of  educational  opportunities    269 

Variations  in  the  Taxable  Wealth 
Certain    facts    of    outstanding    significance    to    the 
equalizing  of  educational   opportunity  are  revealed  by 
this  table : 

(1)  The  wealth  per  capita  varies  from  $669.36  in 
Mississippi  to  $4135.35  in  Nevada. 

(2)  The  taxable  wealth  behind  each  person  of  school 
age  varies  from  $2026.01  in  Mississippi  to  $27,360.70 
in  Nevada,  with  an  average  of  $6296.55  for  the  entire 
country.  California  can  raise  $30.00  for  the  education 
of  each  person  of  school  age  by  a  millage  one  seventh  as 
large  as  is  necessary  in  Mississippi  to  raise'  the  same 
amount.  The  tax  rate  in  Missouri  would  have  to  be 
twice  as  great  as  in  Iowa  to  raise  a  given  sum  for  each 
person  of  school  age.  Virginia's  rate  would  have  to  be 
three  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Oklahoma  would  have  a  lower  rate  than  any  state  in 
the  North  Atlantic  Division  except  New  York. 

The  variations  shown  in  the  preceding  table  indicate 
one  reason  for  the  differences  in  public  education  among 
the  different  states,  and  suggest  that,  because  of  the 
importance  of  good  public  schools  to  the  life  and  welfare 
of  the  Nation,  Congress  might  with  propriety  appro- 
priate to  the  several  states  in  proportion  to  their  respec- 
tive needs  and  efforts  money  that  has  been  raised  on 
the  basis  of  ability  to  pay. 

The  figures  just  given  are  perhaps  somewhat  difficult 
to  comprehend.    The  following  table  reduces  the  figures 


270  THE   NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

to  a  percentage  basis,  thus  making  them  easily  com- 
parable. Column  1  shows  the  per  cent  of  wealth  (191 2) 
for  each  state.  Column  2  shows  the  per  cent  of  popu- 
lation (191 6)  for  each  state.  Column  3  shows  the 
per  cent  of  persons  from  6  to  20  years  of  age  inclusive 
(1910)  for  each  state.  The  columns  should  be  read 
across  for  each  state. 

Maine  has  .5896  per  cent  of  the  wealth  of  the  country, 
.7572  per  cent  of  the  population,  and  .7034  per  cent  of 
the  children  of  school  age. 

California  has  4.5918  per  cent  of  the  wealth  of  the 
country,  2. £805  per  cent  of  the  population,  and  2.0020 
per  cent  of  the  children  of  school  age. 

Iowa  has  4.2563  per  cent  of  the  wealth  of  the  country, 
2.1764  per  cent  of  the  population,  and  2.4332  per  cent 
of  the  children  of  school  age. 

Mississippi  has  .7477  per  cent  of  the  wealth  of  the 
country,  1.9130  per  cent  of  the  population,  and  2.3235 
per  cent  of  the  children  of  school  age. 

The  proposal  embodied  in  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  is 
obviously  not  one  to  equalize  the  wealth  of  the  different 
states.  On  the  contrary,  the  purpose  is  to  distribute 
money,  raised  on  the  basis  of  ability  to  pay  and  irre- 
spective of  state  lines,  to  the  states,  $25,000,000  on  the 
basis  of  the  number  of  persons  of  school  age  and 
$25,000,000  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  teachers  em- 
ployed in  the  public  schools.  If  the  several  states  in- 
crease  appropriations  by   a    like   amount,    a  total  of 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      27 1 


Per  Cent 

or  Wealth 

1912 


Pee  Cent 

of  Population 

1916 


Per  Cent 

of  Persons 

6-20  Years 

Inclusive 

1910 


Continental  United  States  : 


North  Atlantic  Division 
North  Central  Division 
South  Atlantic  Division 
South  Central  Division 
Western  Division       .     . 


North  Atlantic  Division: 

Maine 

New  Hampshire  .  . 
Vermont  .... 
Massachusetts  .  . 
Rhode  Island  .  .  . 
Connecticut  .  .  . 
New  York  .... 
New  Jersey  .... 
Pennsylvania    .     .     . 


North  Central  Division: 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan  .  .  .  . 
Wisconsin  .  .  .  . 
Minnesota        .    .    . 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North  Dakota  .  . 
South  Dakota  .  .  . 
Nebraska  .  .  .  . 
Kansas 


South  Atlantic  Division: 
Delaware  .  .  .  . 
Maryland  .  .  ._  . 
District  of  Columbia 

Virginia 

West  Virginia  .  .  . 
North  Carolina  .  . 
South  Carolina      .     . 

Georgia 

Florida 


South  Central  Division : 
Kentucky  .  .  .  . 
Tennessee  .  .  .  . 
Alabama  .  .  .  . 
Mississippi  .  .  .  . 
Louisiana     .     .     .     . 

Texas 

Arkansas      .     .     .     . 
Oklahoma    .     .     .     . 


Western  Division: 
Montana 
Wyoming 
Colorado 
New  Mexico 
Arizona   .     . 
Utah  .     .     . 
Nevada   .     . 
Idaho .     .     . 
Washington 
Oregon     .     . 
California     . 


100.0000 


29-0508 
38.4409 
7.88Si 
12.6080 
11.1152 


.5896 
•3511 
.2844 

3-2823 
.5109 

1-2325 
12.5406 

3.0686 

8.0908 


4.8944 
2-8335 
8-3535 
2.9582 
2.4509 
30143 
4-2563 
3-1743 
1.1661 
.7616 
2.0632 
2.5146 


1. 1459 
•4391 

1.2446 

1-2473 
.9988 
■7448 

I.3I58 
■SS07 


1-2316 
1.0498 
1. 1732 
•7477 
1. 1770 
3-7499 
1.0058 
2.4730 


•6371 
■1973 
1.3086 
.2871 
.2788 
.4205 
.2526 
.3382 
1.7482 
1.0551 
4.5918 


28.3285 
31.4888 
13-0331 
18.7737 
8-3759 


•7572 
•4337 
■3565 

36456 
.6022 

1. 2199 
10.0702 

2.8897 

8-3535 


5-0485 
2.7612 
6.0306 
2-9945 
2.4509 
2.2345 
2.1764 
3-3433 
.7246 
.6847 
1.2462 
1-7934 


.2092 
1-3359 

.3568 
2.1487 
1.3586 
2.3552 
1-5933 
2.7996 

.S758 


2.3326 
2.2427 
2.2865 
I.9I30 
I -7930 
4-3419 
I-7054 
2.1586 


.4504 
.1760 
•9430 
.4022 
.2505 
•4255 
.1046 
.4201 

I-5039 
.8192 

2.8805 


100.0000 


25-5359 
3I-7520 
14-9177 
21.4299 
6.3645 


•7034 

.4023 

•3413 

3.I748 

•5337 

I-0755 

8.8446 

2-5531 

7.9072 


4-7343 
2.8031 
5-8229 
2.8716 
2.6398 
2-3379 
2.4332 
35819 
.6607 
.6630 
1-3472 
1.8564 


.2088 
1-3999 

.2856 
2.5140 
1.4299 
2.8309 
2.0333 
3-3364 

.8789 


2.7232 
2.6611 
2.7039 
23235 
2.0752 
4.9142 
1.9880 
2.0408 


•3379 
.1289 
.778i 
■3798 
.2050 
.4361 
-0581 
•3489 

1-0576 
.6321 

2.0020 


272  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

$100,000,000  annually  will  be  available  for  equalizing 
educational  opportunities  within  the  several  states. 
The  poorest  schools  are  in  the  poorest  communities,  — 
where  the  best  ones  ought  to  be,  from  the  standpoint 
both  of  the  state  and  of  the  Nation.  Reasons  have 
already  been  given  for  the  glaring  inequalities  of  educa- 
tional opportunity  within  the  several  states.  Such 
Federal  aid  as  is  here  advocated  would  ultimately  re- 
move these  inequalities  throughout  the  country. 
Section  10  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  provides : 

That  in  order  to  encourage  the  States  to  equalize  educational 
opportunities,  five  tenths  of  the  sum  authorized  to  be  appropriated 
by  section  7  of  this  act  shall  be  used  in  public  elementary  and 
secondary  schools  for  the  partial  payment  of  teachers'  salaries, 
for  providing  better  instruction  and  extending  school  terms, 
especially  in  rural  schools  and  schools  in  sparsely  settled  localities, 
and  otherwise  providing  equally  good  educational  opportunities 
for  the  children  in  the  several  states,  and  for  the  extension  and 
adaptation  of  public  libraries  for  educational  purposes.  The 
said  sum  shall  be  apportioned  to  the  states,  one  half  in  the  pro- 
portions which  the  numbers  of  children  between  the  ages  of  six 
and  twenty-one  of  the  respective  states  bear  to  the  total  number 
of  such  children  in  the  United  States,  and  one  half  in  the  pro- 
portions which  the  numbers  of  public-school  teachers  employed 
in  teaching  positions  in  the  respective  states  bear  to  the  total 
number  of  public-school  teachers  so  employed  in  the  United 
States,  not  including  outlying  possessions,  said  apportionment 
to  be  based  upon  statistics  collected  annually  by  the  Department 
of  Education. 

Provided,  however,  that  in  order  to  share  in  the  apportionment 
provided  by  this  section  a  state  shall  establish  and  maintain  the 
following  requirements  unless  prevented  by  constitutional  limita- 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES       273 

tions,  in  which  case  these  requirements  shall  be  approximated  as 
nearly  as  constitutional  provisions  will  permit :  (a)  a  legal  school 
term  of  at  least  twenty-four  weeks  in  each  year  for  the  benefit 
of  all  children  of  school  age  in  such  state ;  (b)  a  compulsory  school 
attendance  law  requiring  all  children  between  the  ages  of  seven 
and  fourteen  to  attend  some  school  for  at  least  twenty-four  weeks 
in  each  year ;  (c)  a  law  requiring  that  the  English  language  shall 
be  the  basic  language  of  instruction  in  the  common-school  branches 
in  all  schools,  public  and  private. 

The  provision  for  the  partial  payment  of  the  salaries 
of  teachers  gives  to  each  state  an  initial  leverage  on  the 
qualifications  of  teachers  employed  in  each  school.  It 
can  pay,  for  example,  $5.00  toward  the  monthly  salary 
of  a  teacher  with  the  lowest  qualifications,  $10.00  per 
month  toward  the  monthly  salary  of  a  teacher  with  better 
qualifications,  and  so  on,  —  thus  making  it  to  the  finan- 
cial interest  of  the  local  school  unit  to  have  teachers  with 
the  best  possible  qualifications.  The  provision  for 
better  instruction  and  longer  terms  reenforces  the  above 
so  that  "equally  good  educational  opportunities"  may 
come  into  existence.  The  apportionment  is  made,  one 
half  on  the  basis  of  the  state's  educational  effort  as 
measured  by  the  number  of  teachers  employed  in  the 
public  schools,  and  one  half  on  the  basis  of  the  number 
of  persons  from  6  to  20  inclusive,  —  its  basal,  educa- 
tional need.  This  clearly  benefits  the  rural  schools,  for 
in  the  rural  districts  the  proportion  of  teachers  to  pupils 
is  higher  than  in  the  urban  districts;  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, too,  the  average  family  is  larger  and  there  are 
x 


274 


THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 


relatively  fewer  unmarried  adults ;    hence  the  school 

population  is  proportionately  larger  than  in  the  cities. 

The  proviso  sets  up  the  conditions  under  which  a 

state  may  share  in  the  fund  thus  provided.     Six  months 

PERCENTAGES  OF  CHILDREN  OF  NORMAL  AGE  -  GRADE 

IN  RURAL  AND  VILLAGE  SCHOOLS,  BOTH  RACES 

60    40    30   20    10     0  0    10    20   30     40   GO 


100 
Grade 
I 


White  polos?*1  V 

PERCENTAGES  OF  CHILDREN  OF  NORMAL  AGE  ~GRADB 

IN  CITY  SCHOOLS,  BOTH  RACES 

60    60    40     SO    20     10     0  0     10     20    SO    40     60 


Colored 


Figure  6.  —  Inequalities  of  education  in  rural  and  urban  districts 
of  Alabama.1 

of  school,  open  to  all  persons  of  school  age  in  the  state, 
must  be  provided.  Compulsory  attendance  from  the 
age  of  seven  to  the  age  of  fourteen  for  six  months  is 
required,  —  to  prevent  any  increase  in  illiteracy  from  the 
bottom.     And,    finally,    English   must   be   "the   basic 

1  Taken  from  An  Educational  Study  of  Alabama,  U.  S.  Bur.  Edn.  Bui. 
4i,  ioiq,  p.  94. 


EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      275 

language  of  instruction  in  common -school  branches  in 
all  schools,  public  and  private."  This  does  not  preclude 
the  teaching  of  a  foreign  language  in  a  public  school  or 
in  a  private  school,  but  it  does  insure  that  all  who  go  to 
school  shall  have  the  opportunity  and  the  stimulus  to 
master  the  language  of  our  country.  The  states  have 
ample  power  to  control,  to  the  extent  indicated,  all 
public  and  all  private  schools,  and  it  is  to  the  interest 
of  both  the  states  and  the  Nation  that  this  reasonable 
and  yet  fundamental  standard  be  established. 

The  way  in  which  the  allotment  for  the  equalization 
of  educational  opportunities  would  work  is  shown  in  the 
following  table,  —  the  first  column  showing  the  dis- 
tribution of  $25,000,000  on  the  basis  of  those  from  six  to 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  the  second  showing  the  dis- 
tribution of  $25,000,000  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of 
teachers  in  the  public  schools.  Column  3  shows  the 
total  allotment  for  equalization  of  educational  oppor- 
tunities to  the  several  states.     (See  page  276.) 

When  this  provision  for  the  equalization  of  educational 
opportunities  is  written  into  the  Federal  law  and  is 
accepted  by  the  states,  we  shall  have  begun  to  realize 
concretely  the  dream  of  our  forefathers.  The  wealth 
of  an  individual  is  not  wholly  the  result  of  his  own  effort. 
Barbed  wire  may  be  made  in  no  more  than  twenty  mills, 
but  every  state  in  the  Union,  by  buying  the  product, 
contributes  to  the  taxable  wealth  of  these  twenty  centers. 
Every  cash  register  that  is  bought  in   the  remotest 


276 


THE   NATION   AND    THE    SCHOOLS 


Allotment  for  Equalization  of  Educational  Opportunities 


Allotment  of 

$25,000,000.00 

on  Basis  of 

Persons  6  to  20 

Years  Inclusive 

Section  10 

Allotment  of 
$25,000,000.00 

on  Teacher 
Basis 

Section  10 

Total 
Allotment  of 
$50,000,000.00 

FOR 

Equalization 
Section  10 

Continental  United  Stales: 

$25,000,000.00 

$25,000,000.00 

$50,000,000.00 

North  Atlantic  Division     . 
North  Central  Division 
South  Atlantic  Division     . 
South  Central  Division 
Western  Division      .     .     . 

6,383,974-29 
7,938,002.12 
3,729,430.22 
S,357,469-93 
1,591,110.79 

6,137,333-28 

9,252,275.76 
3,069,630.72 
4,264,527.54 
2,276,875.77 

12,521,307.57 
17,190,277.88 
6,799,060.94 
9,621,997.47 
3,867,986.56 

24,999,987-35 

25,000,643.07 

50,000,630.42 

North  Atlantic  Division: 

New  Hampshire  .... 

Vermont 

Massachusetts      .... 

175,849.27 

100,568.95 
85,314-33 
793,697-78 
133,422.28 
268,871.54 

2,211,147.55 
638,296.71 

1,976,805.88 

279,784 
123,844 
120,188 
702,452 
111,391 
258,011 

2,152,830 
672,485 

1,716,343 

05 
11 

64 
79 
41 
9i 
81 
97 
59 

455,633-32 

224,413.06 

205,502.97 

1,496,150.57 

244,813.69 

526,883.45 

4,363,978.36 

1,310,782.68 

3,693,149.47 

North  Central  Division: 

Ohio 

Indiana 

North  Dakota      .... 
South  Dakota 

1,183,585.56 
700,785.42 

1,455,746.22 
717,900.36 
659,934.97 
584,469.07 
608,294.67 
895,473-91 
165,163.92 
165,743-19 
336,810.58 
464,094.25 

1,278,169.23 
789,260.16 

1,340,231.88 
842,726.43 
654,288.96 
714,744-81 

1,093,829.10 
811,755.36 
325,095.81 
283,479.69 
506,383.02 
612,311.31 

2,461,754.79 

1,490,045.58 

2,795,978.10 

1,560,626.79 

1,314,223.93 

1,299,213.88 

1,702,123.77 

1,707,229.27 

490,259.73 

449,222.88 

843,193.60 

1,076,405.56 

South  Atlantic  Division: 

Delaware 

Maryland 

District  of  Columbia     .     . 

North  Carolina    .... 
South  Carolina     .... 

52,189.94 
349,979-65 

71,39392 
628,498.72 
357,485-80 
707,716.80 
508,331.11 
834,094.19 
219,740.19 

42,660.54 
259,498.20 

71.783-79 
527,030.40 
414,715.08 
584,473-5° 
334,736.61 
604,397.82 
230,334-78 

94,850.38 
609,477.85 
143,177-71 

1,155,529-12 
772,200.88 

1,292,190.30 
843,067.72 

1,438,492.01 
450,074.97 

South  Central  Division: 

680,803.88 
665,280.80 
675,982.36 
580,892.57 
518,786.74 
1,228,543.13 
496,990.82 
510,189.63 

516,987.90 
519,036.57 
444,119.52 
439,982.01 
306,135.57 
1,098,970.86 
428,292.54 
511,002.57 

1,197,791.78 
1,184,317.37 
1,120,101.88 
1,020,874.58 

824,922.31 
2,327,513-99 

925,283.36 
1,021,192.20 

Western  Division: 

Utah 

84,476.51 

32,229.92 

194,536.24 

94,955-56 

51,25743 

109,021.02 

i4,533-oi 

87,222.39 

264,388.75 

158,001.92 

500,488.04 

190,044.27 

69,694.95 

264,037.41 

78,090.48 

61,821.63 

128,744.85 

26,391.69 

140,836.02 

373,380.15 

247,969.41 

695,864.91 

274,520.78 
101,924.87 
458,573-65 
173,046.04 
113,079.06 
237,765.87 
40,924.70 
228,058.41 
637,768.90 
405,971-33 
1.196,352-95 

EQUALIZATION   OF   EDUCATIONAL   OPPORTUNITIES      277 

hamlet  helps  make  Dayton.  Forty  thousand  auto- 
mobile tires  made  in  a  day  is  the  proud  boast  of  a 
factory,  but  if  people  throughout  the  country  did  not 
buy  the  tires,  there  would  be  no  profit. 

When  the  Federal  Government,  on  behalf  of  the 
Nation,  writes  this  equalization  feature  of  the  Smith- 
Towner  Bill  into  law,  the  several  states  will  be  glad  to 
undertake  the  great  task  of  equalizing  educational 
opportunities  by  increasing  the  quantity  and  quality  of 
the  work  of  what  are  now  our  weakest  schools.  This 
will  not  involve  in  any  way  the  limitation  of  those  schools 
that  are  now  our  best  and  strongest  ones.  The  "square 
deal"  will  be  realized.     All  will  gain.     None  will  lose. 

In  1838,  a  convention  met  in  New  Jersey  to  combat  the 
"pauper-school"  idea.  It  issued  an  address  to  the 
people  of  the  state.  In  the  address  was  the  following 
paragraph  which  may  fittingly  conclude  this  chapter: 
"We  utterly  repudiate  as  unworthy,  not  of  freemen 
only,  but  of  men,  the  narrow  notion  that  there  is  to  be 
an  education  for  the  poor  as  such.  Has  God  provided 
for  the  poor  a  coarser  earth,  a  thinner  air,  a  paler 
sky?  ...  Or  is  it  on  the  mind  that  God  has  stamped 
the  imprint  of  a  baser  birth  so  that  the  poor  man's  child 
knows  with  an  inborn  certainty  that  his  lot  is  to  crawl, 
not  climb?  It  is  not  so.  God  has  not  done  it.  Man 
cannot  do  it.  Mind  is  immortal.  Mind  is  imperial. 
It  bears  no  mark  of  high  or  low,  of  rich  or  poor.  It 
asks  but  freedom.     It  requires  but  light." 


CHAPTER  XXI 
The  Preparation  of  Teachers 

Chapter  XIX  set  forth  the  more  important  of  the 
deficiencies  in  the  personnel  of  public-school  service 
from  the  national  point  of  view.  Emphasis  was  there 
placed  chiefly  upon  (i)  the  public  attitude  which  looks 
upon  teaching,  especially  in  the  lower  schools,  as  a 
temporary  and  casual  occupation,  and  which  conse- 
quently permits  this  service  to  be  devoid  of  the  recog- 
nitions and  rewards  that  its  significance  to  the  Nation 
demands ;  (2)  the  results  of  this  attitude  as  expressed 
in  the  present  shortage  of  teachers,  the  "factory"  plan 
of  educational  administration,  and  the  relatively  low 
efficiency  of  the  schools  as  a  whole ;  and  (3)  the  inade- 
quacy of  existing  agencies  for  the  preparation  of 
teachers,  —  an  inadequacy  due  in  large  part  to  the  public 
attitude  just  referred  to  which  naturally  minimizes  the 
importance  of  prolonged  and  serious  preparation  and 
permits  four  fifths  of  the  teaching  positions  to  be  filled 
by  essentially  untrained  teachers.  The  present  chapter 
will  outline  a  constructive  program  for  the  remedy  of 
this  fundamental  weakness  in  American  education. 

Baldly  stated,  this  program  looks  forward  to  a  condi- 
tion so  far  removed  from  that  which  now  prevails  that 

*78 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  TEACHERS        279 

the  prospects  of  its  realization  may  seem  to  the  reader 
to  be  hopelessly  Utopian.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
program  is  far  from  impracticable;  it  can  be  realized 
with  an  infinitesimal  part  of  the  effort  that  the  people 
put  forth  to  save  democracy ;  —  and  its  realization  is 
an  indispensable  condition  in  the  paramount  task  that 
now  lies  before  the  Nation,  —  the  task  of  safeguarding 
the  great  gains  that  have  cost  so  much.  It  means 
nothing  more  revolutionary  than  to  give  to  every  child 
in  the  land  a  teacher  who  has  been  especially  selected  and 
especially  prepared  to  meet  his  or  her  educational  needs. 
Nothing  short  of  this,  we  may  be  sure,  will  meet  the 
educational  needs  of  the  Nation. 

TEACHING  AS  NATIONAL  SERVICE 

This  program  will  involve  primarily  a  complete 
reversal  of  the  public  attitude  toward  teaching,  and 
especially  toward  teaching  in  the  elementary  graded  and 
rural  schools.  It  is  here  that  the  Nation's  chief  prob- 
lem lies.  The  colleges  and  the  universities  must  not 
be  neglected,  —  nor  will  they  be  neglected.  They 
already  have  the  "ear  of  the  people"  and  they  will  not 
sacrifice  their  interests  in  any  measure  by  aiding  in 
every  possible  way  the  cause  of  the  lower  schools. 
Indeed,  until  the  problem  of  the  lower  schools  is  solved, 
their  own  work  will  be  handicapped.  To  make  ele- 
mentary and  secondary  education  yield  the  largest 
possible  returns  will  mean  not  only  a  heavier  enroll- 


280  THE  NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

ment  in  the  higher  institutions  but  a  vastly  improved 
student  body.  The  selection  of  the  talent  available  for 
"leadership"  will  operate  upon  a  much  wider  basis, 
and  it  is  to  the  training  of  leaders  that  the  colleges  and 
universities  have  always  directed  their  energies. 

From  the  Nation's  point  of  view,  however,  competent 
leadership,  while  an  indispensable  element  in  a  success- 
ful democracy,  is  only  one  element.  The  essential 
difference  between  democracy  and  autocracy  lies  at 
precisely  this  point.  The  fundamental  characteristic 
of  democracy  is  that  its  leadership  must  be  continually 
subject  to  evaluation  by  the  "rank  and  file"  with 
whom  the  final  decision  on  every  collective  enterprise 
must  rest.  The  more  intelligent  this  evaluation,  the  more 
effective  and  stable  the  democracy.  Leadership  will 
always  emerge ;  as  Gal  ton  pointed  out  fifty  years  ago, 
practically  nothing  short  of  premature  death  will  keep 
true  genius  from  coming  into  its  own ;  and  even  talent 
that  fails  to  reach  the  plane  of  genius  is  likely  to  over- 
come apparently  insuperable  handicaps.  This  does  not 
constitute  an  argument  for  the  neglect  of  higher  educa- 
tion, for  talent  and  even  genius  must  be  trained  to 
insure  the  most  effective  results;  but  to  urge  higher 
education  as  more  fundamental  than  universal  elemen- 
tary education  is  to  deny  the  first  principle  of  democ- 
racy. Leadership  will  always  emerge,  but  the  in- 
telligent evaluation  of  leadership  by  the  masses  of  the 
people  depends  in  every  case  upon  the  development 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  TEACHERS        28 1 

of  the  highest  possible  level  of  trained  and  informed 
intelligence  among  the  people  as  a  whole.  The  funda- 
mental educational  problem  of  democracy  is  the  prob- 
lem of  the  common  schools.  The  fundamental  prob- 
lem of  the  common  schools  is  to  insure  for  every  child 
a  competent  teacher. 

THE   PREVAILING   NEGLECT   OF   THE   NORMAL   SCHOOLS 

To  establish  this  principle  firmly,  it  must  be  crys- 
tallized in  a  tangible  form.  This  can  be  done  most 
quickly,  most  readily,  and  most  effectively  through 
measures  that  will  place  upon  their  proper  plane  the 
institutions  for  the  preparation  of  teachers,  and  espe- 
cially the  institutions  that  prepare  teachers  for  the 
elementary  and  rural-school  service,  —  the  normal 
schools. 

The  outstanding  inadequacies  of  these  institutions 
have  already  been  pointed  out.1  These  inadequacies 
are  only  too  consistent  with  the  low  status  of  the  teacher's 
calling,  —  but  one  way  to  raise  the  status  is  to  remove 
the  inadequacies.  If  the  position  that  we  have  just 
taken  is  valid,  —  if  the  most  important  servants  of 
democracy  are  the  teachers  of  the  common  schools,  — 
then  the  institutions  which  train,  instruct,  and  prepare 
these  servants  should  be  the  most  attractive,  the  most 
carefully  organized,  and  relatively  the  most  generously 
supported  of  all  the  institutions  of  higher  and  pro- 
1  See  Chapter  XIX. 


282  THE   NATION   AND   THE    SCHOOLS 

fessional  education.  At  the  present  time,  their  status 
is  precisely  the  reverse  of  this :  they  are  the  least  attrac- 
tive of  all  professional  schools ;  their  organization, 
particularly  with  respect  to  their  courses  of  study,  is  a 
generation  behind  that  of  professional  schools  in  the 
fields  of  law,  medicine,  dentistry,  pharmacy,  engineering, 
and  nursing;  their  support  from  the  public  treasuries 
is  far  less  in  proportion  to  their  enrollment  than  that 
of  other  professional  schools  supported  by  public  funds.1 
It  is  very  largely  because  of  the  meager  support  of 
the  normal  schools  that  they  are  so  poorly  attended, 
especially  in  times  of  material  prosperity.  In  spite 
of  the  devotion  of  their  faculties,  —  and  in  no  field  of 
education  are  the  teachers  so  generally  and  so  thoroughly 
consecrated  to  their  work,  —  the  normal  schools  are 
almost  everywhere  regarded  by  ambitious  youth  as 
"cheap"  institutions,  to  be  shunned  if  one  has  the 
barest  opportunity  to  go  elsewhere.  This  is  due  in 
part  to  the  unattractiveness  of  the  service  for  which 
the  normal  schools  prepare ;  but  it  is  also  due  in  part 
to  the  brief  terms,  to  the  low  entrance  requirements, 

1  "It  seems,  then,  that  the  public  provides  for  those  instructors  who 
prepare  teachers  for  the  public  schools  a  lower  compensation  by  about 
one  third  than  it  provides  for  those  who  prepare  professional  and  technical 
workers  in  other  fields.  It  also  asks  the  former  to  carry  a  heavier  load 
than  the  latter,  both  in  terms  of  periods  of  classwork  each  week  and  in 
terms  of  ratio  of  instructors  to  students."  —  N.  E.  A.  Commission  Series 
No.  3,  Washington,  1918,  p.  9.  This  pamphlet  gives  in  detail  the  data 
upon  which  this  and  other  conclusions  quoted  in  the  present  chapter  are 
based. 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  TEACHERS        283 

and  to  the  congested  and  ill-organized  curriculum  that 
is  inevitable  when  an  institution  attempts  in  two  years 
or  less  to  prepare  students  for  the  wide  range  of  duties 
that  elementary  and  rural-school  teaching  involves.1 

These  are  hard  words,  but  it  would  be  little  less  than 
criminal  to  "whitewash"  defects  and  deficiencies  upon 
the  correction  of  which  every  hope  of  a  triumphant 
democracy  ultimately  rests. 

THE   SMITH-TOWNER   PROVISIONS   FOR   THE   PREPARATION 
OF    TEACHERS 

One  of  the  important  features  of  the  Smith-Towner 
Bill  is  its  provision  for  remedying  this  situation.  Section 
1 2  reads  as  follows : 

"That  in  order  to  encourage  the  states  in  the  preparation  of 
teachers  for  public-school  service,  particularly  in  rural  schools, 
three-twentieths  of  the  sum  authorized  to  be  appropriated  by- 
section  7  of  this  act  shall  be  used  to  provide  and  extend  facilities 
for  the  improvement  of  teachers  already  in  service  and  for  the 
more  adequate  preparation  of  prospective  teachers  and  to  pro- 
vide an  increased  number  of  trained  and  competent  teachers  by 
encouraging,  through  the  establishment  of  scholarships  and 
otherwise,  a  greater  number  of  talented  young  people  to  under- 
take preparation  for  public-school  service.    The  said  sum  shall 

1  One  of  the  writers  of  this  book  has  more  than  once  caused  merriment 
by  announcing  to  groups  of  young  women  that  some  day  it  would  be 
deemed  more  of  a  distinction  to  graduate  from  a  normal  school  than  to 
graduate  from  any  one  of  the  four  or  five  famous  women's  colleges. 
And  yet  until  this  prediction  comes  true,  the  public-school  service  will 
not  have  reached  the  plane  that  it  must  attain  if  the  Nation's  problems 
are  to  be  solved. 


284  THE  NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

be  apportioned  to  the  states  in  the  proportions  which  the  numbers 
of  public-school  teachers  employed  in  teaching  positions  in  the 
respective  states  bear  to  the  total  number  of  teachers  in  the 
United  States,  not  including  outlying  possessions,  said  appor- 
tionments to  be  based  on  statistics  collected  annually  by  the 
Department  of  Education." 

If  the  bill  becomes  a  law,  there  will  be  available  for 
the  preparation  of  teachers  $15,000,000.  This  money 
will  be  used  by  the  states  chiefly  in  extending  and 
improving  the  work  of  the  state  and  city  normal  schools 
and  of  teacher-training  departments  in  state  colleges 
and  universities.  Where  a  state  is  not  providing  for  the 
preparation  of  teachers  a  sum  equal  to  its  Federal 
allotment  for  that  purpose,  it  will  be  required  by  the 
terms  of  the  bill,  if  it  accepts  the  full  Federal  appro- 
priation, to  add  from  its  own  resources  a  sum  sufficient 
to  make  the  two  amounts  equal.  It  is  clear,  then,  that 
an  annual  fund  of  $30,000,000  will  be  available  for  the 
purposes  in  question.  This  will  practically  double  the 
present  resources  of  the  institutions  concerned. 

There  is,  however,  every  reason  to  believe  that 
national  stimulation  will  incite  the  states  to  still  more 
generous  appropriations.  This  has  been  the  result  in 
the  earlier  instances  of  national  aid,  and  especially  in 
the  subsidizing  of  the  colleges  of  agriculture  and  me- 
chanic arts. 

With  these  greatly  increased  resources  as  a  basis, 
the  normal  schools  can  proceed  at  once  to  the  develop- 
ment of  adequate  programs.     Such  programs,  indeed, 


THE  PREPARATION  OP  TEACHERS        285 

are  already  under  construction  and  upon  their  main 
features  there  is  general  agreement  throughout  the 
country.  They  contemplate  the  extension  of  the  period 
of  training  at  first  to  three  and  later  to  four  years  follow- 
ing high-school  graduation ;  a  decided  increase  in  the 
salaries  and  qualifications  of  normal-school  instructors; 
and  a  much  better  organization  of  materials,  partic- 
ularly in  the  increased  emphasis  of  the  "laboratory" 
element  in  preparing  teachers  —  that  is,  the  provision 
of  demonstration  schools,  experimental  schools,  and 
practice  schools. 

As  a  basis  for  a  radical  extension  of  the  period  of 
training,  it  is,  of  course,  essential  that  the  material 
rewards  of  public-school  service  be  greatly  increased. 
The  appropriation  for  the  "equalization  of  educational 
opportunities"  will  contribute  $50,000,000  annually 
toward  this  end ;  and  while  the  sum  is  relatively  small 
(adding  less  than  $100  to  the  salary  of  each  teacher), 
it  will  operate  upon  the  basis  of  a  public  sentiment 
already  alive  to  the  imperative  need  of  raising  teachers' 
salaries.  With  longer  and  better  preparation  once 
well  started,  the  material  rewards  will  tend  almost 
automatically  to  increase.  Efficient  service,  instead  of 
being  restricted  to  isolated  instances  or  at  most  to 
insulated  communities,  will  gradually  become  more 
and  more  general;  the  real  value  of  preparation  in 
promoting  efficiency,  —  a  value  which  is  now  obscured 
because    the    work  of  the  mature  and  highly    trained 


286  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

teacher  is  swamped  by  the  poor  results  of  his  immature 
and  untrained  colleagues,  —  will  be  increasingly  recog- 
nized ;  with  this  will  come  a  discrimination  that  is  now 
lacking  and  the  opening  of  opportunities  for  the  opera- 
tion of  supply  and  demand  that  public-school  service 
has  never  yet  afforded. 

THE  "WEST  POINT"  POLICY  APPLIED  TO  NORMAL  SCHOOLS 

Of  large  significance  is  the  provision  of  the  Smith- 
Towner  Bill  permitting  the  states  to  use  a  portion  of 
the  appropriation  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  in  the 
payment  of  "scholarships"  to  especially  promising 
students.  The  essential  justice  and  the  imperative 
need  of  this  policy  are  set  forth  by  the  Emergency 
Commission 1  of  the  National  Education  Association 
as  follows: 

"Federal  cooperation  may  well  make  it  possible  for  the  states 
to  grant  scholarships  to  exceptionally  competent  students,  thus 
insuring  a  higher  level  of  ability  in  the  teaching  population.  .  .  . 

"There  are  three  professions,  each  fundamentally  significant 
to  social  welfare  and  progress,  that  are  alike  in  another  impor- 
tant respect.  Teaching,  the  ministry,  and  the  army  and  navy 
service  are  salaried  professions.  The  opportunities  of  relatively 
large  financial  rewards  are  not  comparable  in  any  sense  to  the 
opportunities  afforded  by  such  professions  as  law,  medicine,  and 
engineering,  to  say  nothing  of  the  opportunities  afforded  by  busi- 
ness and  industry. 

"The  individual  student  who  might  otherwise  wish  to  prepare 
himself  adequately  for  teaching  is  likely  to  be  discouraged  by  the 

1  Commission  Series  No.  j,  pp.  12-13. 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  TEACHERS        287 

relatively  small  financial  returns  that  he  must  expect  from  his 
investment.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  wishes  to  enter  the  service 
of  public  defense  as  an  officer  in  the  army  or  the  navy,  and  if  he 
is  successful  in  securing  an  appointment  at  West  Point  or  Annapolis 
and  competent  to  meet  the  entrance  requirements,  the  Govern- 
ment will  not  only  provide  him  with  board  and  tuition  during  his 
period  of  preparation  but  will  also  pay  him  an  annual  stipend  of 
$600.  The  Federal  Government  has  thus  established  the  precedent 
of  educating  at  public  expense  well  qualified  candidates  for  an 
important  type  of  public  service  that  cannot  hope  to  compete 
with  business  and  industry  in  financial  rewards. 

"If  the  individual  wishes  to  enter  the  ministry,  he  will  find 
that  scholarships  ample  to  cover  his  living  expenses  at  a  theo- 
logical seminary  are  available  to  qualified  candidates. 

"There  are,  in  general,  no  such  subsidies  for  students  who 
would  seek  service  in  the  public  schools.  But  the  precedent  has 
been  established  in  institutions  preparing  for  a  type  of  service 
closely  related  to  teaching.  Every  great  university  offers  schol- 
arships for  advanced  students  who  wish  to  enter  one  or  another 
of  the  many  divisions  of  research  and  investigation.  Nor  is  this 
practice  limited  to  privately-endowed  universities;  many  tax- 
supported  universities  pay  stipends  to  graduate  students  from 
funds  raised  by  public  taxation. 

"It  is  clear,  then,  that  there  is  abundant  precedent  for  pro- 
viding scholarships  for  competent  students  wishing  to  prepare 
for  public  school  service ;  it  is  clear,  also,  that  there  is  ample 
precedent  for  providing  such  scholarships  from  public  funds. 

"Teaching  is  numerically  the  largest  of  all  professional  callings 
requiring  more  practitioners  than  medicine,  law,  and  theology 
combined.  Teachers  are  to-day  recruited  in  largest  numbers 
from  families  that  cannot  afford  to  send  their  children  to  profes- 
sional schools  for  extended  terms  of  preparatory  work,  especially 
when  that  work  holds  out  no  promise  of  large  financial  rewards 
that  might  otherwise  justify  the  investment.  In  view  of  the 
large  number  ol  teachers  required  in  the  public  school  (the  num- 


288  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

ber  will  soon  be  three  quarters  of  a  million),  it  is  doubtful  whether 
all  positions  could  be  filled  if  adequate  training  were  demanded 
and  if  the  type  of  family  now  furnishing  the  typical  teacher  were 
consequently  excluded  as  a  source  of  available  supply. 

"Coffman  found  in  191 1  that  the  typical  (or  median)  woman 
teacher  came  from  a  family  having  an  income  of  not  more  than 
$800  a  year,  and  a  family,  too,  with  a  larger  number  of  chil- 
dren than  the  average  family  in  the  United  States.  To  demand 
a  longer  term  of  preparation  at  the  expense  of  the  individual 
would  automatically  prevent  the  recruiting  of  teachers  from 
fully  one  half  of  the  families  that  are  now  the  chief  source  of 
supply.1 

"The  natural  consequence  of  this  condition  is  a  continual  pres- 
sure that  resists  the  raising  of  standards  for  licensing  or  certifi- 
cating teachers ;  and  this  explains  why,  in  a  country  so  rich  as 
ours  and  so  sincerely  committed  to  the  policy  of  public  educa- 
tion, the  teachers  of  the  public  schools  represent  in  general  a  low 
level  of  maturity,  general  education,  and  professional  preparation. 

"The  obvious  remedy  is  to  insure  (1)  better  facilities  for  pre- 
paring teachers,  (2)  higher  standards  of  certification,  (3)  a  much 
higher  scale  of  salaries,  and  (4)  a  system  of  scholarships  that  will 
still  keep  the  profession  open  to  the  best  talent  from  the  families 
that  now  supply  the  majority  of  teachers." 

It  is  clear  from  our  earlier  discussions  that  public 
education  in  the  several  states  would  not  have  developed 
so  rapidly  as  it  has  developed  without  the  stimulating 
effect  of  the  national  grants.  It  is  equally  evident  that 
no  state  public-school  system  is  complete  unless  it  has 
adequate  facilities  for  the  preparation  of  teachers. 
Almost  all  states  by  law  declare  their  normal  schools 
to  be  a  part  of  the  public-school  system,  and  all  teacher- 

1  Coffman  :  The  Social  Composition  of  the  Teaching  Population. 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  TEACHERS        289 

preparation  agencies  are,  in  fact  if  not  in  law,  integral 
parts  of  the  public-school  system.  There  was  a  time 
when  private  normal  schools  —  joint  stock  corporations 
organized  for  profit  —  flourished,  but  that  time,  for- 
tunately, has  passed.  All  the  states  have  recognized, 
through  the  establishment  of  publicly  supported  normal 
schools,  the  prime  importance  of  well-prepared  teachers, 
but  in  no  state  does  the  normal-school  system  even  ap- 
proximate adequacy  to  its  fundamental  and  difficult  task. 

It  is  undeniable,  therefore,  that  the  Nation,  which 
has  by  grants  encouraged  the  states  to  establish  public 
schools,  has  now  the  duty  of  stimulating  the  states  by 
further  grants  to  go  forward  in  teacher-preparation 
programs  until  there  is  an  adequately  prepared  teacher 
in  every  schoolroom  in  the  Nation. 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  normal-school 
graduates  teach  much  longer  than  the  average  teacher. 
While  the  average  teaching  life  of  all  teachers  is  between 
four  and  five  years,  normal-school  graduates,  even  under 
existing  conditions,  serve  between  eight  and  nine 
years.  If  five  years  be  the  average  length  of  service, 
we  shall  need  120,000  beginning  teachers  each  year.  If 
nine  years  be  the  average  length  of  service,  we  shall  need 
66,000  beginning  teachers  each  year.  There  are  now 
more  than  two  hundred  fifty  state  normal  schools 
and  city  training  schools  in  the  United  States.  If  they 
could  be  brought  up  to  the  point  at  which  each 
would   graduate   two   hundred  sixty-four  persons  each 


29O  THE  NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

year,1  in  a  very  short  while  the  demand  would  be  met. 
This  calculation  omits  from  consideration  the  fact  that  the 
mere  increase  of  the  school  population  of  the  United 
States  requires  about  12,000  additional  teachers  each 
year,  but  we  have  left  out  of  account,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  institutions  in  addition  to  normal  schools 
that  prepare  teachers  for  the  public  schools.  Higher 
standards  will  mean  a  longer  preparation ;  they  will 
mean  a  better  preparation.  The  results  of  school  work 
will  be  improved ;  pupils  will  progress  more  rapidly  and 
remain  in  school  longer. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  public-school 
teachers  in  each  state,  the  proportion  of  teachers  to  the 
total  population  and  to  the  school  population  (6  to  20) ,  the 
average  annual  salaries  of  teachers  (public  schools,  1915- 
16),  and  the  millage  on  the  wealth  (191 2)  of  each  state 
required  to  pay  the  salaries  of  teachers  (for  191 5-1 6). 

No  state  in  the  Union  has  ever  in  the  past  had  a  well- 
prepared  teacher  for  every  schoolroom  and  no  state 
is  now  in  that  happy  condition.  It  does  not  require  a 
prophet  to  predict  that,  with  the  economic  burdens 
which  the  war  has  brought,  the  states  will  tend  to  reduce 
relatively  if  not  absolutely  their  expenditures  for 
teacher-preparation.  There  is,  indeed,  a  marked  tend- 
ency   to-day    toward   lower   standards  of  certification. 

1  It  would,  however,  be  necessary  to  have  more  normal  schools.  To 
graduate  264  teachers  each  year  would  be  impossible  for  most  of  the 
normal  schools  because  of  the  limited  facilities  for  practice  teaching  in 
the  small  communities  in  which  they  are  located. 


THE  PREPARATION  OF  TEACHERS 


291 


Number 
of  Public 

School 
Teachers 

1915-16 

Popula- 
tion 
(1916) 

PER 

Teacher 
1915-16 

School 
Popula- 
tion 
('10)  PER 
Teacher 

1915-16 

Average 

Annual 

Salary 

of 

Teachers 
1915-16 

Average 
Millage  on 

Wealth 

(1912)  to  Pay 

Average 

Annual 

Salary  of 

Teachers 

Continental  United  States 

622,371 

163.91 

44-58 

S563.08 

2.00 

North  Atlantic  Division 
North  Central  Division 
South  Atlantic  Division 
South  Central  Division 
Western  Division     .     . 

132,784 
230,328 

76,416 
106,162 

56,681 

189.15 
139-47 
173-99 
187.47 
150.75 

46.38 
38.25 
54-17 
56.01 
31-15 

728.56 
56965 
342.39 
413.58 
797-47 

2.12 
1-95 
1.89 
1.99 

2.32 

North  Atlantic  Division: 

New  Hampshire  .     .     . 

Massachusetts     .     .     . 
Rhode  Island  .... 
Connecticut    .... 

New  Jersey     .... 
Pennsylvania  .... 

6,965 

3,083 

2,992 

17,487 

2,773 

6,423 

S3, 593 

16,741 

42,727 

110.91 
143-53 
121.55 

212.67 
221-53 
193-75 
191.69 
176.09 
199-45 

28.02 
36.20 
31-65 
S0.38 
53-40 
46.46 
45-79 
42.32 
51-35 

430.24 
486.80 
422.72 
800.18 
721.91 
624.35 
967.20 
872.34 
470.18 

2.90 

2-44 
2-54 
2-43 
2.24 
1.87 
2.36 
2.72 
1.42 

North  Central  Division: 
Ohio 

Illinois 

Michigan    .     .  - .     .     . 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota       .... 

North  Dakota     .     .     . 
South  Dakota      .     .     . 

Nebraska 

Kansas 

31,819 
19,648 
33,364 
20,979 
16,288 
17,793 
27,230 
20,208 
8,093 
7,057 
12,606 
15,243 

161.86 
I43-36 
184.39 
145.61 
I53-50 
128.11 
81.53 
168.77 
91-33 
98.98 
100.85 
1 20.02 

41.29 
39-59 
48-43 
37.98 
44-97 
36.46 
24.79 
4918 
22.65 
26.07 
29.65 
33-79 

528.88 
580.32 
7So.8s 
605.47 
545-co 
521.52 
517.05 
559-74 
574-76 
433-71 
438.45 
572.60 

1.96 
2.36 
I.71 
2-45 
2.07 
1.76 
1.89 
2.03 
2.20 
2.21 
1-53 
1.98 

South  Atlantic  Division: 

Maryland 

District  of  Columbia 

West  Virginia      .     .     . 
North  Carolina    .     .     . 
South  Carolina    .     .     . 

Florida 

1,062 
6,460 
1,787 
13,120 
10,324 
14,550 
8,333 
15,046 
5,734 

200.92 
210.96 
203.68 
167.07 
134-25 
165.13 
195.06 
189.82 
155-82 

54-55 
60.13 

44-34 
53-17 
38.43 
53-99 
67.71 
6i.53 
42-53 

358.31 
561.06 
999.84 
34i-9o 
348.93 
264.36 
293.99 
304-31 
363.09 

1.29 
1.81 
2.32 
2.06 
1.65 
2.20 
1.88 
1.99 
2.05 

South  Central  Division: 
Kentucky 

Alabama 

Mississippi      .... 

12,870 
12,921 
11,056 
10,953 
7,621 
27,358 
10,662 
12,721 

184.89 
177.07 
210.98 
178.18 
240.01 
161.54 
163.17 
173-ro 

58.71 
57-i6 
67.86 
58.86 
75-56 
49.84 
Si-74 
44-51 

376.75 
332.52 
344.00 
23364 
425-95 
572.52 
334-94 
488.45 

2.25 
2.34 
1. 8S 
1 -95 
i-S7 
2.38 
2.03 
1-43 

Western  Division: 
Montana 

New  Mexico    .... 

UUh 

Nevada 

Washington     .... 

Oregon 

California 

4,731 
1,735 
6,573 
1,944 
1,539 
3,205 
657 
3,506 
9,295 
6,173 
17,323 

97.12 
I03-49 
146.35 
211.05 
166.04 
I3S-43 
162.45 
122.24 
16505 
135-38 
169.63 

19.82 
20.62 
32.85 
54-21 

36.96 

37-7S 
24-55 
27.61 
31-57 
28.41 
32.07 

702.43 
500.39 
632.85 
546.03 
770.40 
724.92 
782.86 
742.81 
866.58 
650.41 
998.45 

2.98 
2- SI 
I.81 
2. II 
2-43 
3-l6 
1. 16 
4.4O 
2.63 
2.17 
2.15 

292  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

Certainly  states  will  not,  on  their  own  initiative  and 
without  a  strong  national  urge,  undertake  the  vast 
extensions  that  the  needs  of  the  Nation  demand.  The 
statesmanlike  policy  is  to  set  up  an  inducement,  —  the 
acceptance  of  which  will  lead  the  several  states  to  move 
forward  toward  the  realization  of  a  teacher  situation  that 
will  benefit  the  state  itself  and  the  Nation  as  a  whole. 
There  is  no  expenditure  that  the  Federal  Government 
could  possibly  make  that  would  bring  greater  benefits 
nationally  than  would  flow  from  an  appropriation  suffi- 
cient in  amount  to  induce  the  states  to  assure  for  every 
child  the  beneficent  influence  of  a  well-prepared  teacher. 
As  a  Nation,  we  have  shown  ourselves  sensible  in 
many  a  crisis.  We  may  gain  the  whole  world  in  an 
economic  sense  and  lose  our  own  souls  in  a  social  and 
spiritual  sense.  The  backwash  of  the  war  will  entail 
hardship  and  taxes ;  the  materials  used  in  war  must  be 
paid  for  out  of  the  proceeds  of  human  labor;  but  it 
would  be  shortsighted,  indeed,  to  take  one  penny  of  it 
from  the  opportunity  to  which  every  child  is  entitled. 
It  would  be  equally  shortsighted  not  to  give  every 
penny  that  is  necessary  to  provide  for  every  boy  and 
girl  the  opportunity  to  become  a  worthy  member  of 
that  civilization  which  has  been  saved  at  so  great  a  cost 
of  blood  and  treasure.  This  opportunity  can  come  only 
to  those  boys  and  girls  who  are  privileged  to  have 
teachers  "with  the  wisest  heads  and  the  warmest 
hearts." 


CHAPTER  XXII 
A  Department  of  Education 

The  preceding  analyses  of  educational  defects  from  the 
national  point  of  view  and  the  remedial  measures  that 
have  been  proposed  render  necessary  an  examination 
of  the  organization  by  which  it  is  proposed  to  carry 
forward  the  Nation's  part  of  the  great  educational 
movement  embodied  in  the  Smith-Towner  Bill.  It  has 
been  repeatedly  shown  that  the  provisions  of  this  bill 
do  not  interfere  with  the  exclusive  right  of  the  several 
states  to  organize,  supervise,  and  administer  public 
education.  The  clear  and  unmistakable  intent  and 
plan  of  the  bill  is  to  promote  education  of  certain  types 
that  bear  a  causal  relation  to  national  welfare  without 
dominating  education  in  any  way.  Therefore,  the  edu- 
cational machinery  necessary  to  make  the  proposals 
effective  should  be  in  harmony  with  this  fundamental 
purpose.1 

The  bill  creates  an  executive  department  in  the  govern- 
ment to  be  known  as  the  Department  of  Education  and 
provides  for  the  appointment  of  a  Secretary  of  Educa- 
tion who  shall  be  a  member  of  the  President's  Cabinet. 
The  Bureau  of  Education  is  transferred  from  the  Depart- 

1  See  Appendix  C  for  the  complete  text  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill. 

293 


294  TSE  NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

ment  of  the  Interior  to  the  Department  of  Education 
and  the  transfer  of  other  educational  activities  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  the  Department  of  Education 
by  Congressional  action  or  by  Executive  order  is  pro- 
vided for.  The  powers,  duties,  responsibilities,  prop- 
erty, records,  and  personnel  of  these  transferred 
activities  are  centered,  after  transfer,  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Education. 

This  plan  follows  the  precedent  by  which  executive 
departments  of  our  government  have  been  created. 
Originally,  there  were  only  four  executive  departments ; 
these  were  attached  to  the  portfolios  of  State,  Treasury, 
War,  and  Justice.  Additional  departments  have  been 
created  in  the  following  order :  Navy,  1798 ;  Post  Office, 
1829;  Interior,  1849;  Agriculture,  1889;  Commerce 
and  Labor,  1903  ;  Labor,  191 3.  Of  the  ten  existing  de- 
partments, the  first  seven  are  genuine  executive  depart- 
ments of  government  arising  out  of  the  constitutional 
sovereignty  of  the  Nation;  the  remaining  three  are 
executive  departments  representing  fundamental  types 
of  national  interest  that  are  not  based  on  sovereign 
powers. 

The  real  purpose  back  of  the  creation  of  each  of 
these  executive  departments  has  been  to  secure  a  more 
effective  realization  of  national  interests.  Our  Nation 
has  grown  and  developed  at  a  most  remarkable  rate. 
The  federal  form  of  government  limits,  in  many  ways, 
the  exercise  of  national  power.     Therefore,  and  fortu- 


A   DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION  295 

nately,  the  government  has  resorted  to  leadership  as  a 
constitutional  substitute  for  the  direct  exercise  of  power. 

Congress  has  no  direct  power  to  control  agriculture 
nor  has  there  ever  been  a  serious  proposal  that  it 
should  have  this  power.  Agriculture,  however,  bears 
a  vital  relation  to  national  welfare.  Everyone  has  an 
interest  in  having  the  farms  as  productive  as  possible. 
Therefore,  the  national  endeavor  should  be,  and  is,  to 
promote  agriculture.  Over  and  beyond  all  that  colleges 
of  agriculture,  experiment  stations,  and  agricultural 
extension  agencies  can  do,  there  is  a  field  in  which 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  promotes  the  national 
interest  by  encouraging  and  stimulating  agricultural 
activities.  Control  of  agriculture  is  not  sought;  it  is 
as  undesirable  as  it  is  impossible. 

What  has  just  been  said  is  substantially  true  of  the 
fundamental  purpose  and  work  of  the  Department  of 
Commerce  and  the  Department  of  Labor.  Each  has  a 
large  responsibility  in  leadership  and  only  very  limited 
powers. 

The  more  important  arguments  for  a  Department  of 
Education  and  for  a  Secretary  of  Education  in  the 
President's  Cabinet  may  be  briefly  stated: 

1.  Under  the  budget-system  which  will  soon  be 
adopted  by  the  Federal  Government,  the  schedules 
of  revenues  and  expenditures  will  be  prepared  in  the 
President's  Cabinet  for  presentation  to  Congress.  If 
Federal  appropriations  of  the  magnitude  contemplated 


296  THE  NATION  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 

in  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  are  to  be  made  for  public 
education,  there  should  be  in  the  President's  Cabinet 
a  person  whose  especial  responsibility  it  will  be  to  see 
that  the  just  claims  of  education  are  neither  overlooked 
nor  minimized.  If  the  educational  needs  of  the  Nation 
are  represented  by  another  Department,  such  as  the 
Department  of  the  Interior,  they  clearly  will  not  be 
given  the  exclusive  consideration  of  a  Cabinet  officer, 
nor  will  their  significance  appear  in  true  proportion 
either  to  the  Cabinet  that  prepares  the  budget  or  to 
Congress  which  will  use  the  budget  as  a  basis  for  its 
appropriation  measures. 

2.  A  Federal  Department  of  Education  is  needed  to 
integrate  the  various  activities  of  an  educational  char- 
acter in  which  the  Federal  Government  is  already 
engaged.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  executive 
departments  now  undertaking  educational  work,  —  the 
Army,  the  Navy,  the  Federal  Treasury,  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  the  Department  of  the  Interior, 
and  the  Department  of  Labor,  —  should  turn  over 
their  educational  work  to  the  proposed  Department 
of  Education.  There  should  be  in  the  President's 
Cabinet,  however,  a  person  who  is  responsible  to  no 
one  less  important  than  the  President  himself  and  who 
will  be  officially  competent  to  confer  with  other  de- 
partment heads  regarding  their  educational  undertakings 
and  to  point  out  to  them,  to  the  President,  and  to  Con- 
gress, the  effect  of  every  educational  undertaking  upon 


A  DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION  297 

the  educational  welfare  of  the  country  as  a  whole. 
The  deleterious  influence  upon  the  schools  of  the  un- 
coordinated efforts  of  Governmental  agencies  to  pro- 
mote war  measures  through  the  agency  of  the  educational 
institutions  has  already  been  referred  to.1  But  the  war 
only  brought  into  high  relief  the  difficulties  involved  in 
a  series  of  relationships  that  were  instituted  long  before 
and  that  will  be  multiplied  in  the  future.  A  coordinating 
agency  is  imperatively  needed;  that  a  small  bureau 
in  one  of  the  existing  departments  cannot  discharge 
this  important  function  is  clear  from  the  failure  of  the 
present  Bureau  of  Education  to  meet  the  need  during 
the  war.  The  other  departments  will  not  respect  such 
a  bureau;  Congress  will  not  respect  it;  an  executive 
department  coordinate  in  rank  with  the  other  execu- 
tive departments  alone  can  command  and  secure  this 
respect. 

3.  A  Department  of  Education  is  needed  to  coordi- 
nate and  integrate  the  educational  forces  of  the  Nation. 
In  discharging  this  function,  leadership  and  not  law 
must  be  the  potent  force.  One  of  the  first  steps  that 
a  Secretary  of  Education  would  take  would  be  to  call 
a  conference  of  the  chief  educational  officers  of  the 
several  states  for  the  consideration  of  national  edu- 
cational policies.  Any  policies  that  this  conference 
adopted  affecting  state  and  local  education  could  be 
carried  into  effect,  of  course,  only  through  cooperative 

1  See  above,  p.  129. 


298  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

state  action.  With  the  prestige  attaching  to  a  Depart- 
ment of  Education,  the  leadership  essential  to  this,  the 
only  method  of  working  out  the  Nation's  educational 
problems,  would  come  most  readily ;  and  yet  not  so  readily 
that  the  Secretary  of  Education  could  become  in  any  sense 
an  educational  dictator.  Whatever  plans  this  official  pro- 
posed would  be  subject  to  correction,  even  to  rejection, 
by  the  conference ;  only  a  true  leader  with  convincing 
policies  could  wield  a  lasting  influence.  But  the  best 
leader  and  the  most  convincing  policies  would  be  seri- 
ously handicapped  without  the  prestige  which  a  Federal 
portfolio  would  provide.  If  the  state  officers  after 
having  come  to  an  agreement  in  conference  could  go 
back  to  their  legislatures  with  well-matured  plans  that 
had  the  sanction  of  a  recognized  Federal  department, 
the  chances  that  their  proposals  would  receive  adequate 
attention  would  be  greatly  increased;  while  the  Secre- 
tary of  Education,  having  the  backing  of  this  repre- 
sentative group,  could,  in  his  turn,  make  a  strong  appeal 
to  the  President  and  to  Congress  for  whatever  Federal 
legislation  the  conference  might  propose. 

In  a  similar  fashion,  the  Secretary  of  Education  would 
call  together  the  superintendents  of  city  schools,  the 
leaders  in  rural  education,  the  presidents  of  the  state 
universities  and  of  the  land-grant  colleges,  the  presi- 
dents of  the  state  and  city  normal  schools,  and  other 
groups  representing  in  the  several  states  educational 
interests    that   have    an    important    national    bearing. 


A  DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION  299 

Through  leadership  of  this  type  every  significant  value 
of  a  Federal  system  of  education  could  be  realized  with- 
out imposing  upon  the  country  a  centralized  and  neces- 
sarily autocratic  school  administration. 

4.  A  Federal  Department  of  Education  is  needed  to 
represent  the  people  and  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  in  the  solution  of  international  educational 
problems.  Under  the  League  of  Nations,  these  prob- 
lems will  inevitably  become  matters  of  large  importance 
in  the  future.  Educational  commissions  from  foreign 
nations  visit  the  country  every  year ;  these  commissions 
have  increased  in  number  and  importance  since  the  close 
of  the  Great  War;  they  will  be  even  more  numerous 
and  vastly  more  important  in  the  years  that  lie  ahead. 
Up  to  the  present  time,  the  provisions  for  the  reception 
and  entertainment  of  these  commissions  have  been 
patriotically  undertaken  by  private  and  philanthropic 
agencies,  —  largely  because  we  have  had  no  national 
educational  official  of  the  rank  and  prestige  which 
relationships  of  this  sort  demand.  International  edu- 
cational conferences  are  also  clearly  predictable  ;  plans, 
indeed,  for  an  important  conference  were  initiated  by 
European  educators  in  1919,  and  the  United  States 
would  have  been  asked  to  call  such  a  conference  had  not 
our  delay  in  ratifying  the  peace  treaty  and  joining  the 
League  of  Nations  caused  an  indefinite  postponement 
of  the  enterprise.  Such  conferences,  however,  will  play 
an  important  part  in  establishing  the  new  world  order, 


3<do  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

and  for  appropriate  participation  in  them  the  creation 
of  a  Federal  Department  of  Education  is  imperative. 

5.  Above  and  beyond  all  other  considerations,  a 
Federal  Department  is  needed  to  give  to  education  the 
status,  the  dignity,  and  the  influence  that  it  should  have 
in  a  great  democracy.  It  is  needed  to  put  the  seal  of  the 
Nation's  approval  upon  the  most  important  enterprise 
in  which  the  people  as  a  whole  can  engage.  As  has  been 
repeatedly  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  chapters,  we 
cannot  consistently  be  a  Nation  in  every  other  collective 
interest,  and  still  remain  in  education  forty-eight  separate 
and  distinct  entities.  The  price  that  we  have  paid  for 
our  failure  to  have  education  adequately  reflected  in  our 
national  life  has  already  been  counted  up  in  the  heavy 
toll  of  illiteracy,  limited  literacy,  health  deficiencies, 
and  alienism.  National  subventions  to  the  states  will 
do  much  to  remedy  these  national  weaknesses;  but, 
taken  by  themselves,  they  will  be  an  incomplete  solution 
of  the  problem.  To  meet  the  final  condition  there  must 
be  in  our  government  a  Department  of  Education  second 
in  significance  to  no  other  department,  and  subordinate 
in  rank,  prestige,  and  influence  to  no  official  less  im- 
portant than  the  President  himself. 

Those  who  suggest  the  creation  of  a  Federal  Board 
of  Education  with  a  Commissioner  elected  by  this  Board 
as  the  titular  head  of  American  education  have  based 
their  arguments  very  largely  upon  an  alleged  analogy 
between    the    Federal    Government's    participation    in 


A  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION  3OI 

education  and  the  administration  of  state  and  local 
school  systems.  In  the  latter  case,  the  "lay"  board, 
employing  a  professional  executive,  represents  un- 
doubtedly the  best  administrative  agency.  But  the 
Federal  Government  is  to  exercise  no  function  even 
remotely  analogous  to  those  of  a  state  or  local  Board 
of  Education.  It  will  not  control  schools,  appoint 
teachers,  adopt  courses  of  study,  build  schoolhouses,  ap- 
prove textbooks,  or  enforce  compulsory  attendance  laws. 
Indeed,  the  critics  have  quite  overlooked  the  duties 
that  the  Secretary  of  Education  would  discharge  under 
the  terms  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill : 

"That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  department  of  education  to 
conduct  studies  and  investigations  in  the  field  of  education  and 
to  report  thereon.  Research  shall  be  undertaken  in  (a)  illiteracy ; 
(b)  immigrant  education;  (c)  public-school  education,  and  es- 
pecially rural  education  ;  (d)  physical  education,  including  health 
education,  recreation  and  sanitation ;  (e)  preparation  and  supply 
of  competent  teachers  for  the  public  schools;  and  (/)  in  such 
other  fields  as,  in  the  judgment  of  the  secretary  of  education,  may 
require  attention  and  study. 

"In  order  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  this  section  the  secre- 
tary of  education  is  authorized,  in  the  same  manner  as  provided 
for  appointments  in  other  departments,  to  make  appointments, 
or  recommendations  of  appointments,  of  educational  attaches  to 
foreign  embassies,  and  of  such  investigators  and  representatives 
as  may  be  needed,  subject  to  the  appropriations  that  have  been 
made  or  may  hereafter  be  made  to  any  office,  bureau,  division, 
board,  or  branch  of  the  Government,  transferred  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  this  act  to  the  department  of  education; 
and  where  appropriations  have  not  been  made  therefor  the  ap- 
propriation provided  in  section  six  of  this  act  shall  be  available." 


302  THE   NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

"To  conduct  studies  and  investigations  in  the  field 
of  education  and  to  report  thereon"  is  not  an  executive 
function  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  term.  Certain 
fields  for  study  are  specified  and  other  fields  are  left 
to  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  Education.  To  hold 
educational  conferences  for  the  consideration  of  educa- 
tional problems ;  to  send  educational  attaches  to  foreign 
embassies  to  study  and  report  upon  educational  organ- 
ization, methods,  and  results ;  to  make  available  to 
the  states  and  to  the  public  generally  information  about 
education,  —  this  is  educational  leadership.  It  is  in 
reality  an  extension  and  improvement  of  a  kind  of  work 
that  the  Nation  has  carried  on  in  an  ineffective  way  for 
many  years. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  see  just  what  additional 
authority  the  Secretary  of  Education  is  given  by  the 
terms  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill. 

(i)  The  Secretary  of  Education  "is  to  apportion  to  said  state" 
(the  report  of  which  shows  that  it  is  prepared  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  with  respect  to  any  one  or  more  of  the  specified 
apportionments)  "  for  the  fiscal  year  .  .  .  such  funds  as  said  state 
may  be  entitled  to  receive  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and 
shall  certify  .  .  .  [the  same]  ...  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury ;  Provided,  That  this  act  shall  not  be  construed  to  require  uni- 
formity of  plans,  means,  or  methods  in  the  several  states  in  order 
to  secure  the  benefits  herein  provided,  except  as  specifically  stated 
herein:  And  provided  further,  That  all  the  educational  facilities 
encouraged  by  the  provisions  of  this  act  and  accepted  by  a  state 
shall  be  organized,  supervised,  and  administered  exclusively  by 
the  legally  constituted  state  and  local  educational  authorities  of 


A  DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION  303 

said  state,  and  the  Secretary  of  Education  shall  exercise  no 
authority  in  relation  thereto  except  as  herein  provided  to  insure 
that  all  funds  apportioned  to  said  state  shall  be  used  for  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  are  appropriated,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  this  act  accepted  by  said  state."     (Section  14.) 

(2)  "The  secretary  of  education  is  authorized  to  prescribe 
plans  for  keeping  accounts  of  the  expenditures  of  such  funds  as 
may  be  apportioned  to  the  states  under  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
and  to  audit  such  accounts.  The  Secretary  of  Education  may 
withhold  the  apportionment  or  apportionments  of  any  state  for 
the  next  ensuing  fiscal  year  whenever  he  shall  determine  that  such 
apportionment  or  apportionments  made  to  said  state  for  the 
current  fiscal  year  are  not  being  expended  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  this  act :  Provided,  however,  That  before  withholding 
any  such  apportionment  from  any  state,  as  herein  provided,  the 
secretary  of  education  shall  give  due  notice  in  writing  to  the  chief 
educational  authority  designated  to  represent  said  state,  stating 
specifically  wherein  said  state  fails  to  comply  with  the  provisions 
of  this  act."     (Section  15,  first  paragraph.) 

(3)  "That  the  chief  educational  authority  designated  to  repre- 
sent any  state  receiving  the  benefits  of  this  act  shall,  not  later 
than  September  1  of  each  year,  make  a  report  to  the  Secretary  of 
Education  showing  the  work  done  in  said  state  in  carrying  out 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of 
money  apportioned  to  said  state  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 
If  the  chief  educational  authority  designated  to  represent  any 
state  shall  fail  to  report  as  herein  provided,  the  Secretary  of 
Education  shall  notify  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  discontinue 
the  payment  of  all  apportionments  to  said  state  until  such  report 
shall  have  been  made."     (Section  17.) 

The  three  quotations  given  define  the  authority  of 
the  Secretary  of  Education  as  this  authority  is  created 
by  the  Smith-Towner  Bill.     In    a    last   analysis,   this 


304  THE  NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

authority  is  given  to  the  Secretary  of  Education  for 
the  single  purpose  of  safeguarding  the  national  interest 
in  having  the  subventions  provided  in  the  bill  admin- 
istered honestly.  Anything  less  is  unthinkable:  any- 
thing more  is  unwise. 

It  should  now  be  evident  that  all  fears  of  "domination 
from  Washington  "  are  unfounded.  It  is  equally  evident 
that  all  arguments  for  a  Federal  Board  of  Education  in 
place  of  a  Department  of  Education  are  founded  on 
an  assumed  analogy  of  the  type  of  educational  organi- 
zation suited  to  the  educational  activities  of  a  state,  — 
an  analogy  that  breaks  down  since  the  Smith-Towner 
Bill  does  not  contemplate  charging  the  Secretary  of 
Education  with  the  administration  even  of  the  public- 
school  system  of  the  city  of  Washington.1  The  great 
function  of  the  Department  of  Education  is  intelligent 
leadership  as  this  is  based  on  conference,  counsel,  in- 
formation, research,  and  report.  Even  if  Congress  should 
never  grant  an  additional  dollar  for  the  promotion  of 
education,  a  Department  of  Education  should  be  created 
in  order  to  unify,  coordinate,  and  make  more  effective  the 
educational  projects  it  has  already  set  in  motion.  If 
the  Smith-Towner  Bill  subventions  in  aid  of  education 
are  established  by  Congress,  the  Department  of  Educa- 

1  Congress  very  properly  administers  the  public-school  system  of 
Washington  through  a  board.  It  also  very  properly  distributes  its 
money  grants  to  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts  and  its  aid 
for  agricultural  experiment  stations,  agricultural  extension,  farmers' 
institutes,  etc.,  through  its  executive  departments. 


A  DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION  305 

tion  should  be  charged  with  their  allotment  to  the  several 
states.  Such  subventions  are  clearly  consistent  with 
historic  precedent,  and  a  Department  of  Education, 
rather  than  a  National  Board  of  Education,  is  in  har- 
mony with  historic  method  of  safeguarding  and  advanc- 
ing national  interests  in  fields  to  which  the  sovereignty 
of  the  United  States  does  not  extend. 

Any  analogy  between  the  Federal  Board  for  Voca- 
tional Education  for  the  administration  of  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Smith-Hughes  Act  and  a  Federal  Board 
of  Education  to  administer  the  provisions  of  the  Smith- 
Towner  Bill  is  faulty.  In  vocational  education  of  the 
types  provided  in  the  Smith-Hughes  Act  there  was,  and 
still  is,  opportunity  of  misunderstanding  between  capi- 
tal and  labor  and  it  was  therefore  desirable  to  have 
each  of  these  organized  groups  represented  on  a  manag- 
ing board  so  that  each  might  have  equal  voice  in  deter- 
mining policies,  and  so  that  each  might  report  to  its 
own  group.  Because  of  the  foregoing  arrangement,  it 
became  imperative  that  the  general  public  should  also 
have  representation  on  the  board  for  vocational  educa- 
tion. The  purpose  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  —  the  pro- 
motion of  public  education  in  the  states  —  cannot  be 
misunderstood  or  misconstrued  by  any  group;  and, 
therefore,  its  successful  administration  does  not  demand 
a  board  representative  of  possibly  conflicting  interests. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  the  Smith-Hughes  Act 
gave  to  the   Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education 
x 


306  THE   NATION  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

far  greater  powers  within  the  states  than  the  Smith- 
Towner  Bill  gives  to  the  Secretary  of  Education.  The 
primary  reason  for  this  difference  in  power  is  that  in  the 
case  of  vocational  education  it  was  sought  to  establish 
a  new  type  of  education,  while  in  the  Smith-Towner  Bill 
it  is  sought  to  stimulate  the  states  to  greater  and  more 
effective  activity  in  fields  of  educational  work  in  which 
the  states  are  already  engaged  or  with  which  they  are 
reasonably  familiar. 

A  Department  of  Education  makes  necessary  a  Secre- 
tary of  Education  who  will  be  appointed  by  the  President 
and  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  This  brings  us  to  an 
objection  that  is  expressed  by  the  word  politics.  It  is 
said  that  a  President  would  probably  appoint  as  Secre- 
tary of  Education  a  member  of  his  own  political  party. 
Instances  are  so  clear  and  so  recent  that  probably  is  the 
strongest  word  that  can  be  used.  The  assertion  is  not 
true  with  respect  to  those  who  have  served  as  Com- 
missioners of  Education,  nor  is  it  true  with  respect 
to  appointments  by  Governors  to  remotely  analogous 
positions.  It  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  a  President 
would  honestly  desire  to  find  the  most  capable  man  for 
the  Secretaryship  of  Education  and  that  he  would  make 
every  possible  effort  to  find  such  a  man  without  making 
previous  partisan  service  a  prerequisite  for  appoint- 
ment. With  this  reasonable  assurance,  the  party  affili- 
ation of  the  person  appointed  becomes  insignificant. 
It  cannot  be  truthfully  asserted  that  those  who  have 


A  DEPARTMENT   OF  EDUCATION  307 

thus  received  executive  appointments  in  the  past  have 
performed  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices  in  a 
partisan  way.  These  men  are  sworn  to  administer  the 
laws  and,  almost  without  exception,  they  have  done  so 
with  honor  and  fidelity.  Education  is  the  greatest  con- 
cern of  government  and  of  society.  The  so-called 
politics  that  has  interfered  with  education  in  some  of 
our  cities  and  states  has  been  chiefly  the  petty  politics 
of  "  graft  "  and  other  forms  of  corruption.  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  politics  of  this  type  can  ever  have  sufficient 
influence  to  control  the  appointment  of  the  Secretary 
of  Education. 

The  whole  matter  centers  around  the  following  ques- 
tions :  Is  a  Department  of  Education  desirable  as  express- 
ing the  Nation's  interest  in  public  education?  Is  a 
Department  of  Education  necessary  in  order  to  pro- 
mote, by  leadership  and  service,  the  advancement  of 
public  education  in  the  several  states  ?  Is  a  Department 
of  Education  necessary  to  the  most  efficient  and  most 
satisfactory  administration  of  existing  national  educa- 
tional endeavors  and  of  the  provisions  of  the  Smith- 
Towner  Bill?  Affirmative  answers  to  these  questions 
have  led  to  the  formulation  of  the  provisions  of  the 
Smith-Towner  Bill  with  which  this  chapter  has  been 
concerned. 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  discussion  that  the 
Smith-Towner  Bill  is  not  a  step  toward  national  control 
of  education  or  toward  a  national  system  of  education. 


308  THE  NATION  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 

On  the  contrary,  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  is  a  proposal 
for  the  further  promotion  of  education  in  accordance 
with  a  precedent  which  dates  unbroken  from  May,  1785. 
The  creation  of  a  Department  of  Education  is  also  in 
harmony  with  the  precedent  which  our  own  historical  de- 
velopment has  established.  If  education  were  with  us  a 
national  function  involving  control  of  schools  in  the 
several  states,  it  would  doubtless  be  desirable  to  have  a 
National  Board  of  Education  to  pass  on  certain  matters ; 
but  since  it  is  necessary  to  preserve  the  educational 
autonomy  of  the  states  while  stimulating  them  by  sub- 
ventions and  leadership,  a  Department  of  Education 
with  a  Secretary  of  Education  is  the  most  desirable  and 
advantageous  organization  for  the  purposes  that  the 
Smith-Towner  Bill  aims  to  realize. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
In  Conclusion 

Our  examination  of  the  historical  aspects  of  public 
education  in  the  United  States  has  clearly  shown  that 
the  Federal  Government  has  always  aided  public  educa- 
tion. The  sixteenth  section  in  each  township  in  all  of 
the  states  carved  from  the  public  domain  has  been  set 
aside  for  the  "maintenance  of  public  schools. "  The 
grant  of  land  to  the  Ohio  Company  was  made  by  the 
Continental  Congress  while  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion was  in  session  in  1787.  The  actual  grants  of  land 
for  public  education  within  a  state  were  first  made  in 
1802  with  the  admission  of  Ohio.  The  members  of 
Congress  were  then  wholly  from  the  thirteen  original 
states.  These  states  thoroughly  understood  that  each 
state  retained  the  sovereign  right  to  organize,  supervise, 
and  administer  public  education  within  its  own  borders, 
—  and  each  proceeded  to  do  so  in  its  own  way.  The 
assumption  by  Congress  of  the  power  to  control  public 
education  within  the  several  states  has  never  seriously 
been  proposed. 

That  Congress  has  the  right  to  encourage  the  states 
with  regard  to  education  has  been  established  by  the 
section  grants,  by  the  university  grants  of  townships, 

309 


310  THE  NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

and  by  the  Morrill  and  related  acts.  This  encourage- 
ment has  been  both  in  the  form  of  lands  and  in  the  form 
of  money.  Land  was  used  as  long  as  it  lasted,  —  and 
then  money  was  used.  Congress  now  gives  two  and  a 
half  million  dollars  annually  for  the  "support  and  further 
endowment  of  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic 
arts."  Congress  has  the  power  "to  lay  and  collect 
taxes,"  "to  provide  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States,"  and  "to  dispose  of  .  .  .  the  territory 
or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States." 
The  money  that  reaches  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  is  the  property  of  the  United  States,  and  Congress 
can  appropriate  it  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare. 
On  this  theory,  land  was  given  to  encourage  the  states 
to  establish  and  maintain  public  schools,  universities, 
and  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts.  More 
recently  Congress  has  enacted  a  series  of  laws  relating 
to  agricultural  extension  and  vocational  education  of 
high  school  grade.  Each  of  these  laws  appropriates 
money  to  the  several  states,  under  certain  specified 
conditions. 

It  is  well  to  have  in  mind  the  difference  between  a 
grant  and  a  subvention.  A  grant  is  the  more  inclusive 
term  and  includes  all  appropriations  and  all  passing  of 
titles  to  property,  —  it  is  a  giving.  A  subvention  is  a 
giving  under  certain  restrictions  and  conditions.  If 
Congress  had  been  wise  enough  to  provide  that  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  lands  granted  in  aid  of  public 


IN  CONCLUSION  311 

education  should  be  kept  as  perpetual  funds,  indestruc- 
tible and  indefeasible,  the  interest  on  such  funds 
would  now  be  a  boon  to  every  state  that  received 
grants.  Congress  did  not  make  such  provision  for 
many  years  after  adopting  the  land-grant  policy.  In 
consequence,  the  funds  intended  as  capital  endowment 
for  the  public  schools  were  spent  by  many  of  the 
states,  and  are  now  only  debts  on  which  the  states  pay 
interest  by  means  of  taxation.  These  are  mere 
"credit  funds."  One  generation  borrowed  the  money 
and  spent  it.  All  succeeding  generations  must  tax 
themselves  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt  thus 
created.  Therefore,  the  grants  of  land  for  public  schools 
and  other  educational  purposes  have  not  proved  to  be 
the  perpetual  and  continuing  benefit  which  they  might 
have  been.  In  a  similar  way,  it  is  clear  that  the  net 
result  would  have  been  better,  —  even  though  slower  of 
realization,  —  had  Congress  provided  in  the  first 
Morrill  Act  that  the  states  should  not  sell  their  land 
scrip  for  less  than  $1.25  an  acre. 

The  public  domain  of  the  United  States  is  practically 
exhausted  so  far  as  its  use  as  a  great  perpetual  fund  for 
the  encouragement  of  education  is  concerned.  In  fact, 
a  fund  of  which  only  the  interest  should  be  used  would 
have  to  be  so  large  as  to  be  entirely  out  of  consideration 
as  a  practicable  possibility.  The  several  states  may 
add  to  their  several  permanent  school  funds  as  the  years 
go  by,  but  the  great  bulk  of  these  funds  is  already 


312  THE  NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

collected.  The  greater  part  of  the  expense  of  carrying 
on  public  education  must  be  paid  out  of  current  funds 
raised  by  taxation.  Our  country  has,  at  the  present 
time,  such  vast  wealth  that  a  relatively  low  millage 
rate  on  the  total  would  be  sufficient  to  support  a  most 
effective  system  of  public  education.  There  is,  however, 
no  possibility  of  levying  such  a  uniform  millage  for  the 
several  states  are  unlikely  ever  to  carry  this  great  un- 
dertaking to  the  point  of  educational  efficiency  that  the 
needs  of  the  Nation  as  a  nation  imperatively  demand. 
The  absolutely  certain  way  to  insure  the  increasing 
effectiveness  of  public  education  in  the  several  states 
is  to  establish  specific,  continuing  national  subven- 
tions such  as  have  been  discussed  in  previous  chap- 
ters. If  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  becomes  a  law,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  several  states  will  accept  its 
provisions  and  move  forward  along  the  broad  but 
specific  pathways  of  progress  therein  specified.  There 
are  those  who  think  that  the  appeal  for  more 
money  for  public  education  should  be  made  to  the 
separate  communities.  The  Nation's  problem  can 
never  be  solved  by  this  piecemeal  method ;  the  country 
is  too  large ;  its  component  local  units  are  too  numerous 
and  —  quite  properly  —  too  autonomous  to  insure  a 
nation-wide  gain  through  anything  short  of  a  national 
movement.  There  are  also  those  who  think  that  the 
states  should  bear  the  responsibility  each  for  itself. 
But  the  states,  too,  are  autonomous,  —  and  the  Nation's 


IN   CONCLUSION  3 13 

problems  are  not  the  problems  of  this,  that,  or  the  other 
state.  In  national  affairs  the  old  saw  runs  true  to 
form:  "What  is  everybody's  business  is  nobody's 
business."  The  only  dependable  solution,  from  the 
national  point  of  view,  is  for  Congress  to  establish  a 
group  of  continuing  subventions  which  will,  through  their 
acceptance  by  the  several  states,  insure  that  public 
education  shall  meet  the  needs  of  the  Nation. 

Such  action  would  be  but  a  continuation  of  the 
interest  which  Congress  has  had  in  the  development  of 
the  public  school  as  the  one  certain  anchorage  of  democ- 
racy, —  an  interest  that  was  shown  by  its  earliest 
grants  and  appropriations,  —  an  interest  that  continues 
to  this  day.  Congress  has  done  nothing  for  the  pro- 
motion of  fundamental,  general  education  since  it 
began  appropriating  land  and  money  for  the  colleges  of 
agriculture  and  mechanic  arts.  Its  concern  has  been 
solely  with  vocational  education.  The  needs  of  the 
technician,  the  farmer,  and  the  artisan  have  had  their 
day  in  Congress  and  have  been  generously  met. 
It  seems  proper,  as  well  as  necessary,  that  Congress 
should  again  become  interested  in  the  kind  of  education 
that  must  be  depended  upon  to  develop  the  intelligent 
citizen,  —  else  the  Nation  as  a  nation  must  confess  that 
it  is  so  seriously  concerned  with  the  economic  produc- 
tivity of  its  citizens  as  to  be  blind  to  their  broader 
intellectual  and  moral  needs. 

How  is  Congress  to  get  the  money  for  these  sub- 


314  THE   NATION  AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

ventions?  Aside  from  our  present  war  taxes  on  the 
sales  of  commodities  and  services,  Congress  now  receives 
the  bulk  of  its  revenues  from  taxes  on  incomes.  There- 
fore, any  additional  money  that  is  to  be  appropri- 
ated by  Congress  for  any  purpose  must  be  raised  by 
taxes  on  incomes.  We  shall  pay,  in  large  part,  for  the 
Panama  Canal,  for  warships,  for  internal  improve- 
ments, for  post-office  buildings,  for  the  maintenance  of 
lighthouses,  and  for  the  "support  and  further  endow- 
ment of  Colleges  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts," 
in  the  years  that  lie  ahead,  with  money  derived  in 
increasing  measure  from  this  source.  There  is  no 
authority  for  segregating  Federal  receipts  into  funds  on 
the  basis  of  their  sources,  —  holding  that  money  derived 
from  a  tax  on  alcohol  is  to  be  used  for  one  purpose,  that 
derived  from  duties  on  imports  for  another  purpose, 
and  so  on  through  the  long  list  of  purposes.  Money 
raised  by  taxation  loses  its  identity  of  source  the  moment 
it  reaches  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  and  becomes 
the  property  of  the  whole  people. 

The  Sixteenth  Amendment,  now  an  integral  part  of 
the  Constitution  with  the  same  validity  and  sanction 
that  the  original  articles  possess,  expressly  provides 
that : 

"The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  on 
incomes,  from  whatever  source  derived,  without  apportionment 
among  the  several  states,  and  without  regard  to  any  census  or 
enumeration." 


IN   CONCLUSION  315 

Notwithstanding  this  clear  Constitutional  provision 
and  the  laws  which  Congress  has  made  in  accordance 
therewith,  it  has  been  objected  that  the  subventions 
provided  for  in  the  Smith-Towner  Bill  would  not  be 
made  to  the  states  in  proportion  to  the  amounts  of 
income  tax  paid  by  the  several  states.  The  same 
objection  would  lie  against  practically  every  Con- 
gressional expenditure  that  has  been  made  since  the 
income-tax  law  was  passed,  and  also  against  any  appro- 
priation made  before  that  time  with  a  variation  in  the 
name  of  the  tax.  It  would  have  been  absurd  for  Ken- 
tucky, in  the  days  gone  by,  to  insist  that  the  Federal 
Government  should  return  to  her  as  much  money  as  her 
citizens  paid  in  excises  on  whisky.  The  objection 
just  made  is  equally  absurd. 

If  it  be  incumbent  on  proponents  of  a  measure  for  the 
promotion  of  the  public  welfare  to  stand  sponsor  for 
some  measure  that  will  raise  the  money  required  to 
carry  it  to  successful  completion,  we  would  propose  in 
the  present  instance  an  extension  of  the  income  tax. 
The  income  tax  is  based  on  ability  to  pay.  The  primary 
and  basal  exemption  allows  a  living,  and  the  income 
tax  takes  a  portion  of  the  income  which  is  above  the 
living  point.  In  a  previous  chapter,1  we  have  seen  that 
wealth  is  very  unevenly  distributed  in  the  United  States, 
both  on  the  total-population  basis  and  on  the  basis  of 
the  school-age  population.  One  would  naturally  expect, 
1  See  pp.  268  ff. 


316  THE   NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

therefore,  that  the  net  incomes  subject  to  the  Federal 
income  tax  would  likewise  vary  in  the  several  states. 
Large  incomes  will,  as  a  general  rule,  be  more  numerous 
in  the  older  communities  for  there  has  been  a  longer 
time  during  which  wealth  could  accumulate.  Wealth 
begets  wealth.  But,  in  a  certain  very  real  sense,  the 
need  for  Federal  assistance  to  education  bears  an  inverse 
ratio  to  wealth. 

To  test  this  assumption,  the  accompanying  table  has 
been  prepared  to  show  (i)  the  per  cent  of  total  wealth; 
(2)  the  per  cent  of  allotment  under  the  provisions  of  the 
Smith-Towner  Bill ;  (3)  the  per  cent  of  persons  six  to 
twenty  years  of  age ;  and  (4)  the  per  cent  of  total  net 
income  reported  by  persons  (not  including  corporations) 
in  the  several  states  in  191 7. 

The  table  calls  for  very  little  comment.  The  older 
states  show  the  larger  proportions  of  total  net  income. 
The  income  of  persons  resident  in  a  given  state  may 
not  bear  any  relation  whatever  to  the  wealth  of  that 
state.  A  citizen  and  resident  of  New  York  may  derive 
his  income  largely  or  even  entirely  from  dividends 
on  the  stock  of  a  coal  mine  in  West  Virginia,  an  oil  well 
in  Oklahoma,  an  orange  grove  in  California,  a  street 
railway  in  New  Orleans,  an  iron  mine  in  Michigan,  a 
cattle  ranch  in  Texas,  or  any  one  of  many  other  possible 
sources  that  have  practically  no  relation  to  the  place  of 
residence.  The  claim,  already  cited,  that  a  state  should 
share  in  any  educational  subventions  of  the  Federal 


IN   CONCLUSION 


317 


Divisions  and  States 

Per  Cent  of 

Total 

Wealth 

Per  Cent  of 

Total 
Allotment 

Per  Cent  of 

Total 
6-20  Years 

Inclusive 

Per  Cent  of 

Total  Net 

Incomes 

Continental  United  Stales: 

100.0000 

100.0000 

100.0000 

North  Atlantic  Division 
North  Central  Division 
South  Atlantic  Division 
South  Central  Division 
Western  Division      .     . 

29.9508 
38.4409 
7-8851 
12.6080 
11.1152 

25.8812 
32-4744 
14.2576 
19.7742 
7.6189 

25-5359 
31.7520 
14-9177 
21.4299 
6.3645 

43-12 

31-83 

7-43 

8-73 

9.62 

North  Atlantic  Division: 

Maine 

New  Hampshire  .     .     . 

Massachusetts      .     .    . 
Rhode  Island  .... 
Connecticut     .... 

New  Jersey      .... 
Pennsylvania  .... 

.5896 
•35" 
.2844 

3.2823 
.5109 

1-2325 
12.5406 

3.0686 

8.0908 

.8660 

.4517 

.39i8 

3.2610 

•5370 

11157 

9.2468 

2.6720 

7-3387 

■7034 

.4023 

.3413 

3-I748 

•5337 

1-0755 

8.8446 

2.5S3I 

7.9072 

•49 

•31 

.21 

5.26 

.82 

I.83 

20.38 

3-82 

10.00 

North  Central  Division: 

Ohio 

Minnesota 

North  Dakota      .     .     . 
South  Dakota      .     .     . 

4.8944 
2.8335 
8-3535 
2.9582 
2.4509 
3-0143 
4-2563 
3-1743 
I.1661 
.7616 
2.0632 
2.5146 

4.7127 
2.7351 
S-S954 
3-0463 
2.5221 
2.4932 
3-OI97 
3-2141 
.9006 
.8047 
I.SI38 
1.9162 

4-7343 
2.8031 
5-8229 
2.8716 
2.6398 
2-3379 
2.4332 
3-58I9 
.6607 
•6630 
1-3472 
1.8564 

5-44 
1. 91 
8.23 
2.8s 
I.67 
2.02 
2-47 
2.66 

•45 

.80 

1. 85 

1.48 

South  Atlantic  Division: 

District  of  Columbia 

West  Virginia  .... 
North  Carolina    .     .     . 
South  Carolina    .     .     . 

.1681 
1. 1459 

.4391 
I.2446 
1-2473 

.9988 

•  7448 
I-3IS8 

.5807 

.1938 
1.2272 

•2955 
2-3945 
I-44I4 
2.7013 
1.9282 
3-1525 

.9228 

.2088 
1-3999 

.2856 
2.5140 
1.4299 
2.8309 
2.0333 
3-3364 

.8789 

.41 

1.86 

•76 

•99 

•77 
.61 

-52 

1. 12 
•39 

South  Central  Division : 

Mississippi       .     .     .     . 

1. 2316 
1.0498 
1. 1732 
■7477 
1. 1770 
3-7499 
1.0058 
2.4730 

2.4364 
2.4189 
2.5609 
2.2556 
2.0751 
4-3977 
1.8161 
1.8131 

2.7232 
2.661 1 
2.7039 
2.3235 
2.0752 
4-9I42 
1.9880 
2.0408 

2 

1 

9i 
82 
54 
45 
98 
57 
48 
98 

Western  Division: 

New  Mexico    .     .     .     . 
Utah 

Washington     .     .     .     . 

•6371 

•  1973 

I.3086 

.2871 

.2788 

.4205 

.2526 

•3382 

I.7482 

I-055I 

4-5918 

•5245 
.1923 
.8806 
.3648 
•  2294 
•4344 
.0859 
.4084 

I.2565 
.7676 

2.4740 

•3379 
.1289 
.7781 
.3798 
•  2050 
.4361 
.0581 
•3489 

1.0576 
.6321 

2.0020 

•59 
.21 

1. 01 
•  23 
•29 
•33 
.12 
•34 

1.24 
.62 

4.64 

318  THE   NATION   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 

Government  in  proportion  to  the  income  tax  paid  by 
its  residents  is  thus  seen  to  be  doubly  absurd. 

The  comparisons  made  in  the  table  do  not  imply  that 
there  are  any  state  lines  in  the  matters  of  wealth  or  of 
the  correlative  ability  to  pay.  Wealth  is  not  a  matter  of 
state  lines  exclusively.  The  iron  of  Minnesota  finds 
its  way  to  other  states  for  smelting,  and  to  all  states  in 
manufactured  forms.  The  fruits  of  Florida,  California, 
Michigan,  and  New  York  are  sent  over  practically  all 
of  the  United  States.  The  oil  of  Pennsylvania,  West 
Virginia,  Oklahoma,  and  Texas  goes  everywhere.  No 
matter  how  much  iron,  or  fruit,  or  oil  might  be  produced 
within  a  given  state,  there  would  be  nothing  but  a  local 
market  unless  there  was  a  reachable  population  with 
needs  and  the  wealth  wherewith  to  satisfy  these  needs. 
This  larger  market  is  furnished  by  the  states  other  than 
the  producing  states.  There  is  a  reciprocal  relation, 
of  course.  More  coal  and  manufactured  steel  than  are 
needed  by  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania  are  produced 
within  the  geographical  limits  of  the  state.  This  surplus 
is  exchanged  for  meats,  flour,  butter,  potatoes,  and  other 
foodstuffs  of  which  the  production  within  Pennsylvania 
does  not  satisfy  the  demand. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  mere  fact  that  there  is  a 
certain  total  of  wealth  within  a  given  geographical  or 
political  unit  does  not  mean  that  the  residents  thereof 
have  produced  this  wealth  by  their  own  individual  and 
unaided    efforts.     Our   means    of    transportation    have 


EST  CONCLUSION  319 

developed  to  so  remarkable  a  degree  that  wealth  and 
economic  well-being  are  vastly  increased  over  what 
they  would  be  had  we  no  railroads,  steamboats,  electric 
cars,  or  automobiles.  The  political  unit  within  which 
free  exchange  takes  place  is  the  United  States,  not  one 
particular  state  alone.  Commercially,  economically, 
industrially,  the  states  are  interdependent,  and  this 
interdependence  is  not  hampered  or  trammeled  by 
law  or  by  tradition.  If  the  so-called  sovereignty  of  the 
states  had  extended  to  the  control  of  commerce  and 
if  there  had  been  a  break  in  transportation  at  state 
lines  as  there  is  at  national  boundaries,  the  economic 
development  of  the  Nation  as  a  whole  would  have  been 
slow  and  halting.  The  collective  federal  policy  of 
free  exchange  of  commodities  between  and  among  the 
states  has  been,  in  part  at  least,  responsible  for  the 
remarkable  development  of  wealth  in  this  country. 

Actually,  the  states  are  as  interdependent  educa- 
tionally as  they  are  commercially  and  industrially.  A 
low  level  of  educational  efficiency  in  one  state  affects 
every  other  state.  (1)  The  citizens  of  the  first  state 
are  free  to  move  into  and  live  within  any  other  state,  — 
carrying  with  them  their  ignorance,  their  illiteracy, 
their  superstition,  their  unprogressive  or  even  their 
anti-social  ideals.  (2)  The  productive  capacity  of  any 
group  varies  directly  with  the  trained  intelligence  of  its 
members ;  low  intelligence  in  any  section  of  the  country 
reduces  the  wealth  of  the  country  as  a  whole.     (3)  The 


320  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

educationally  backward  state  is  proportionately  as  well 
represented  in  Congress  and  in  the  Electoral  College  as  is 
the  progressive  state ;  a  low  level  of  intelligence  among 
the  voters  of  any  one  state  will  be  inevitably  reflected 
in  the  representative  government  of  the  Nation.  If, 
four  years  ago,  a  person  could  be  excusably  blind  to  this 
essential  educational  interdependence  of  the  several 
states,  the  time  when  such  blindness  is  excusable  has 
certainly  passed. 

If  we  take  corporations  that  pay  income  taxes  to  the 
Federal  Government  into  account,  the  extent  of  this 
source  of  possible  national  receipts  becomes  clearer. 
The  net  income  of  these  corporations  for  191 6  was 
$8,765,900,000.  How  much  larger  it  was  for  the  follow- 
ing years,  we  do  not  yet  know.  It  certainly  was  not 
less  than  in  191 6.  Taking  it  at  the  191 6  figure  and 
adding  it  to  the  $13,607,679,446  net  personal  incomes, 
gives  a  total  of  over  $23,000,000,000.  A  tax  of  one 
half  of  one  per  cent  on  this  net  income  would  more  than 
provide  for  all  the  expenditures  of  the  Smith-Towner  Bill. 

The  justification  of  such  a  tax  for  the  promotion  of 
education  in  the  several  states  may  be  summarized  as 
follows : 

(1)  The  induction  of  its  citizens  into  its  culture,  its 
standards,  and  its  ideals  is  the  greatest  concern  of  every 
government,  for  it  is  these  spiritual  and  immaterial 
forces  that  constitute  a  Nation ;  if  these  should  fail,  the 
Nation  dies ;    as  these  flourish,   the  Nation  prospers. 


IN  CONCLUSION  321 

To  cherish,  develop,  and  sedulously  safeguard  its  spiritual 
heritage  is  the  first  condition  of  national  survival. 

(2)  The  United  States  is  a  federal  form  of  government 
and  is  by  its  fundamental  and  organic  law  debarred  from 
guaranteeing  its  own  survival  through  actively  and 
directly  organizing,  supervising,  and  administering 
public  education  in  the  several  states. 

(3)  The  Federal  Government  can  achieve  the  same 
end  by  stimulating  and  encouraging  the  several 
states  to  establish  and  maintain  various  forms  of  public 
education.  From  its  birth  it  has  utilized  this  means  of 
meeting  its  educational  needs. 

(4)  The  war  revealed  certain  defects  in  our  state 
systems  of  public  education,  —  illiteracy  and  limited 
literacy  among  adults,  the  presence  of  many  un- 
Americanized  aliens  in  our  midst,  and  many  physical 
defects  and  minor  ailments  that  might  easily  have 
been  removed  with  proper  care.  Many  of  these  na- 
tional handicaps  can  be  traced  with  certainty  to  in- 
equalities of  educational  opportunities  and  to  the  low 
standards  of  preparation  in  the  teaching  personnel. 

(5)  It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  Nation, 
which  is  charged  with  insuring  a  more  perfect  Union, 
providing  for  the  common  defense,  promoting  the  general 
welfare,  establishing  justice,  insuring  domestic  tran- 
quillity, and  securing  the  blessings  of  liberty  that  these 
defects  in  our  present  state  systems  of  public  education 
should  be  remedied  and  the  whole  system  strengthened. 


322  THE   NATION   AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

(6)  The  only  method  by  which  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment can  secure  these  results  is  by  providing  a  group  of 
continuing  subventions,  —  each  subvention  being  directed 
toward  the  stimulation  of  the  states  to  increased  effort 
toward  meeting  some  one  educational  need,  such  as  the 
removal  of  illiteracy,  the  Americanization  of  foreigners, 
the  equalization  of  educational  opportunities,  the  prep- 
aration of  teachers,  or  the  improvement  of  physical 
and  health  education.  This  is  the  only  method  be- 
cause Congress  has  no  right  to  coerce  the  states  to  under- 
take any  of  these  policies.  It  is  also  a  sure  method 
because  a  similar  system  of  grants  of  land  and  money 
has  been  tested  under  our  Federal-State  plan  of  govern- 
ment. The  present  proposals  contain  all  the  inducement 
features  of  former  grants  and  also  provide  a  set  of 
reasonable  conditions  designed  to  safeguard  national 
interests  without  injury  to  the  states  and  without  in- 
fringing upon  their  autonomy. 

(7)  The  money  with  which  to  finance  this  group  of 
subventions  can  be  readily  secured  by  the  Federal 
Government  by  means  of  the  income  tax,  —  a  method 
which,  in  view  of  the  relation  of  education  to  the  increase 
and  security  of  wealth,  commends  itself  as  eminently 
fair  and  right. 

The  establishment  of  these  subventions  in  aid  of 
education  is  the  great  objective  to  attain,  —  it  is  the 
imperative  thing.  * 

A  Department  of  Education  should  be  created,  with  a 


IN   CONCLUSION  323 

Secretary  of  Education  who  should  be  a  member  of  the 
President's  Cabinet.  This  Department  of  Education 
should  administer  these  subsidies,  coordinate  the 
various  educational  activities  in  which  the  Federal 
Government  is  now  engaged,  represent  this  country  in 
its  educational  relations  with  other  countries,  become 
the  national  center  for  educational  research,  and 
exercise  a  wise  and  beneficent  leadership  in  American 
education.  The  creation  of  such  a  Department  of 
Education  is  in  line  with  what  our  states  have  done, 
with  what  every  first  class  modern  nation  except  America 
has  already  done,  and  with  what  the  Nation  has  done  in 
creating  Departments  of  Agriculture,  Labor,  and  Com- 
merce. These  Departments  do  not  imply  national 
control  of  agriculture,  labor,  and  commerce.  On  the 
contrary,  their  chief  function  is  to  exercise  a  leadership 
won  through  a  demonstrated  ability  to  render  real 
service.  To  establish  and  to  exercise  a  similar  leader- 
ship will  be  the  chief  function  of  a  Federal  Department 
of  Education. 


APPENDIX  A 

Land  and  Scrip  Granted  to  States  and  Territories  for 
Educational  Aid  and  Other  Purposes 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States' 


Alabama: 

Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial 
Institute 

Industrial  School  for  Girls  .     .     . 

Seminary  of  Learning      .... 

Internal  Improvements  .... 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16    .     .     . 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 

Seat  of  Government 

University 

Alaska  Territory: 

Common  schools,  Sees.  16  and  36, 
reserved  (Est.) 

Agricultural  College  and  School  of 
Mines,  certain  Sees.  33,  reserved 

(Estimated) 

Arizona: 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Penitentiaries 

Insane  Asylums 

Deaf,  Dumb,  and  Blind  Asylum  . 

Miners'  Hospital 

Normal  Schools 

Charitable,  Penal,  etc 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
leges       

School  of  Mines 

Military  Institutes 

Payment  of  bonds  issued  to  Mari- 
copa, Pima,  Yavapai  and  Co- 
conino Counties 


25,000.00 

25,000.00 

46,080.00 

500,000.00 

240,000.00 

911,627.00 

23,040.00 

1,620.00 

46,080.00 


21,009,209.00 


336,000.00 

246,080.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
50,000.00 
200,000.00 
100,000.00 

150,000.00 
150,000.00 
100,000.00 


1,000,000.00 


1,818,447.00 


21,345,209.00 


33S 


326 


APPENDIX  A 

APPENDIX  A  — Continued 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


Arizona  —  Continued 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  2  and  32 

16  and  36 

Arkansas: 

Internal  Improvements  . 

University 

Public  Buildings     .     .     . 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
California : 

Internal  Improvements  .     .     .     . 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
leges       

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 
Colorado : 

Internal  Improvements  .     .     .     . 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Penitentiaries 

Agricultural  College 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 

State  Agricultural  College   .     .     . 
Connecticut : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
Delaware : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
Florida : 

Internal  Improvements  .     .     .     . 

Seminaries  of  Learning   .     .     .     . 

Seat  of  Government 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16   . 
Georgia : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
Idaho : 

Lava  Hot  Springs 

University 


8,093,156.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

10,600.00 

150,000.00 

933,778.00 

46,080.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

6,400.00 

150,000.00 
5,S34,293-oo 

500,000.00 
46,080.00 
32,000.00 
32,000.00 
90,000.00 
3,685,618.00 
46,080.00 
1,600.00 

180,000.00 

90,000.00 

500,000.00 

92,160.00 

5,120.00 

90,000.00 

975,307-00 

270,000.00 

187.30 
46,080.00 


10,489,236.00 


1,686,538.00 


6,236,773.00 


4,433,378.oo 

180,000.00 

90,000.00 


1,662,587.00 
270,000.00 


APPENDIX  A 


327 


APPENDIX  A  — Continued 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


Idaho  —  Continued 

University 

Agricultural  College 

Penitentiary 

Public  Buildings 

Insane  Asylum 

Educational,  Charitable,  etc.    .     . 

Normal  Schools 

Scientific  Schools 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 
Illinois  : 

Internal  Improvements  . 

Seminary  of  Learning 

Seat  of  Government   .     . 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16 

Salt     Springs      and      contiguous 
lands 
Indiana : 

Internal  Improvements  . 

Seminary  of  Learning 

Seat  of  Government  .     . 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
Iowa : 

Internal  Improvements  .... 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Agricultural  College 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16    .     .     . 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
Kansas : 

Internal  Improvements  .... 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Agricultural  College 

Agricultural  College 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
Game  Preserve 


50,000.00 

90,000.00 

50,000.00 

32,000.00 

50,000.00 

150,000.00 

100,000.00 

100,000.00 

2,963,698.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

2,560.00 

480,000.00 

996,320.00 

121,029.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

2,560.00 

390,000.00 

668,578.00 

23,040.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

3,200.00 

240,000.00 

988,196.00 

46,080.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

6,400.00 

90,000.00 

7,682.00 

2,907,520.00 

46,080.00 

3,021.20 


3,631,965.30 


2,145,989.00 


1)630,258.00 


1,823,556.00 


3,606,783.20 


328 


APPENDIX  A 
APPENDIX  A  — Continued 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


Kentucky: 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 
Louisiana : 

Internal  Improvements  . 

Seminary  of  Learning 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16 
Maine : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 
Maryland: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 
Massachusetts: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 
Michigan : 

Internal  Improvements  . 

University 

Public  Buildings     .     .     . 

Agricultural  College   .     . 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
Minnesota : 

Internal  Improvements  .     .     .     . 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Agricultural  College 

Experimental  Forestry    .     .     .     . 

Public  Park 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
Mississippi : 

Internal  Improvements  . 

Seminary  of  Learning 

Seat  of  Government   .     . 

Agricultural  College  Scrip 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16 
Missouri: 

Internal  Improvements  . 

Seminary  of  Learning 

Seat  of  Government   .     . 

Agricultural  College   .     . 


22,508.65 
330,000.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

210,000.00 

807,271.00 

210,000.00 

210,000.00 

360,000.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

3,200.00 

240,000.00 

1,021,867.00 

46,080.00 

500,000.00 

92,160.00 

6,400.00 

120,000.00 

20,000.00 

8,392.51 

2,874,9s1-00 

46,080.00 

500,000.00 

69,120.00 

1,253.16 

210,000.00 

824,213.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

2,560.00 

330,000.00 


352,508.65 

i,563,35i-00 
210,000.00 
210,000.00 
360,000.00 


1,857,227.00 


3,667,983.51 


1,604,586.16 


APPENDIX  A 


329 


APPENDIX  A  — Continued 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


Missouri  —  Continued 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16    .     .     . 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
Montana: 

University 

Agricultural  College 

Public  Buildings 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum     .     .     . 

Reform  School 

School  of  Mines 

Normal  Schools 

Militia  Camp 

Observatory  for  University      .     . 

Biological  Station 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 

Fort  Assiniboine,  for  educational 

institutions 

Nebraska : 

Penitentiary 

Internal  Improvements  .... 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Agricultural  College 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 

Dry-land  Agricultural  Experiments 
Nevada : 

Internal  Improvements  .... 

University 

Penitentiary 

Public  Buildings 

Mining  and  Mechanic  Arts      .     . 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36, 
and  lieu  lands,  act  June  16,  1880 
New  Hampshire: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
New  Jersey: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip    .     .     . 
New  Mexico  (act  June  21,  1898) : 

University 

Saline  land  (University)       .     .     . 


1,221,812.00 
46,080.00 

46,080.00 

140,000.00 

182,000.00 

50,000.00 

50,000.00 

100,000.00 

100,000.00 

640.00 

480.00 

160.00 

5,198,258.00 

2,000.00 

32,000.00 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

12,800.00 

90,000.00 

2,730,95i-00 

46,080.00 

800.00 

500,000.00 
46,080.00 
12,800.00 
12,800.00 
90,000.00 

2,061,967.00 

150,000.00 

210,000.00 

1 1 1,080.00 
1,622.86 


2,146,533-00 


5,869,618.00 


3,458,711.00 


2,723,647.00 
150,000.00 
210,000.00 


33° 


APPENDIX  A 
APPENDIX  A  —  Continued 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


New  Mexico  —  Continued 

Agricultural  College 

Improvement  of  Rio  Grande    .     . 

Penitentiary 

Public  Buildings 

Insane  Asylum 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum     .     .     . 

Reform  School 

Normal  School 

School  of  Mines 

Blind  Asylum 

Reservoirs 

Miners'  Hospital 

Military  Institute 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 
New  Mexico  (act  June  20,  1910) : 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Insane  Asylums 

Penitentiaries 

Deaf,  Dumb,  and  Blind  Asylum  . 

Miners'  Hospitals 

Normal  Schools 

Charitable,  Penal,  and  Reformatory 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
leges       

School  of  Mines 

Military  Institutes 

Payment  of  bonds  issued  by  Grant 
and  Santa  Fe  Counties     .     .     . 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  2  and  32 
New  York: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
North  Carolina: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .    .     . 
North  Dakota: 

University 

Agricultural  College 

Public  Buildings 

Educational,  Charitable,  etc.    .     . 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum     .     .     . 


100,000.00 

100,000.00 
50,000.00 
32,000.00 
50,000.00- 
50,000.00 
50,000.00 

100,000.00 
50,000.00 
50,000.00 

500,000.00 

50,000.00 

50,000.00 

4,355,662.00 

200,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
50,000.00 
200,000.00 
100,000.00 

150,000.00 
150,000.00 
100,000.00 

1,000,000.00 
4,355>662-°° 

990,000.00 
270,000.00 

86,080.00 
130,000.00 

82,000.00 
1 70,000.00 

40,000.00 


5,700,364.86 


6,705,662.00 
990,000.00 
270,000.00 


APPENDIX   A 


331 


APPENDIX   A  —  Continued 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


North  Dakota  —  Continued 

Reform  School 

School  of  Mines 

Normal  School 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 
Ohio: 

Internal  Improvements  .... 

Seminaries  of  Learning   .... 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16    .     .     . 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 
Oklahoma: 

Normal  Schools 

Oklahoma  University      .... 

University  Preparatory  School 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege   

Colored  Agricultural  and  Normal 
University 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 

Certain  Sees.  13  and  33  .     .     .     . 

Insane  Asylum 

Oregon : 

Internal  Improvements  .     .    .     . 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Agricultural  College 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 

Salt  Springs  and  contiguous  lands 

Public  Park  (Area  not  yet  deter- 
mined)   

Pennsylvania : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip  .  .  . 
Rhode  Island: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip  .  .  . 
South  Carolina: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip  .  .  . 
South  Dakota : 

University 

Agricultural  College 

Public  Buildings 


40,000.00 

40,000.00 

80,000.00 

2,495>396-oo 

500,000.00 

69,120.00 

630,000.00 

724,266.00 

24,216.00 

300,000.00 
250,000.00 
150,000.00 

250,000.00 

100,000.  oc 

i,375,°°0-00 

669,000.00 

1,760.25 

500,000.00 

46,080.00 

6,400.00 

90,000.00 

3,399,36o.oo 

46,080.00 


780,000.00 

120,000.00 

180,000.00 

86,080.00 

160,000.00 

82,000.00 


3,163,476.00 


1,947,602.00 


3,095,760.25 


4,087,920.00 
780,000.00 
1 20,000.00 
180,000.00 


332 


APPENDIX  A 


APPENDIX  A  — Continued 


State  or  Territory    Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


South  Dakota  —  Continued 

Educational  and  Charitable     . 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum     .     . 

Reform  School 

School  of  Mines 

Normal  Schools 

Missionary  Work 

Military  Camp  Ground  .     .     . 

Insane  Asylum 

Common   Schools,   Sees.    16    and 
36 
Tennessee : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
Texas : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
Utah: 

University 

Agricultural  College 

Public  Buildings 

Insane  Asylum 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum      .     .     . 

Reform  School 

School  of  Mines 

Normal  Schools 

Blind  Asylum 

Reservoirs 

Miners'  Hospital 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  2,  16,  32, 

and  36 

Vermont  : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip    .     .     . 
Virginia : 

Agricultural  College  Scrip   .     .     . 
Washington: 

University 

Agricultural  College 

Public  Buildings 

Educational  and  Charitable     .     . 

Normal  Schools 

Scientific  Schools 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 


1 70,000.00 

40,000.00 

40,000.00 

40,000.00 

80,000.00 

160.00 

640.00 

640.00 

2,733,084.00 

300,000.00 

180,000.00 

156,080.00 
200,000.00 

64,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
500,000.00 

50,000.00 

5,844,196.00 

150,000.00 

300,000.00 

46,080.00 
90,000.00 
132,000.00 
200,000.00 
100,000.00 
100,000.00 
2,376,391-0° 


3,432,604.00 
300,000.00 
180,000.00 


7,414,276.00 
150,000.00 
300,000.00 


3,044,471.00 


APPENDIX  A 
APPENDIX  A  —  Continued 


333 


State  or  Territory 


Purpose  of  Grant 


Amount  Granted, 
Acres 


Total  by  States 


West  Virginia: 

Agricultural  College  Scrip  .  .  . 
Wisconsin : 

Internal  Improvements  .     .     .     . 

University 

Public  Buildings 

Agricultural  College 

Forestry 

Common  Schools,  Sec.  16  .  .  . 
Wyoming: 

University 

Agricultural  College 

Public  Buildings 

Penitentiary 

Insane  Asylum 

Educational,  Penal,  etc 

Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum     .     .     . 

Miners'  Hospital 

Fish  Hatcheries 

Poor  Farm 

Common  Schools,  Sees.  16  and  36 
Grand  total 


150,000.00 

500,000.00 

92,160.00 

6,400.00 

240,000.00 
20,000.00 

982,329.00 


46 
90 

107 
3° 
30 

290 

30 

3° 

5 

10 
3,47o 


080.00 
000.00 
000.00 
000.00 
000.00 
000.00 
000.00 
000.00 
480.00 
,000.00 
,009.00 


150,000.00 


1,840,889.00 


4,138,569.00 


133,426,478.93 


APPENDIX   B 

Swamp  and  Overflowed  Lands 

Under  the  grant  of  swamp  and  overflowed  lands  made 
by  the  acts  of  Congress  approved  March  2,  1849  (9  Stat., 
352),  September  28,  1850  (9  Stat.,  519),  and  March  12, 
i860  (12  Stat.,  3),  now  Sections  2479,  2480,  2481,  and 
2490,  United  States  Revised  Statutes,  the  several  states, 
which  were  the  beneficiaries  of  it,  have  received  patents 
for  the  following  areas  to  and  including  June  30,  1918 : 

Acres 

Alabama 418,520.14 

Arkansas 7,686,335.37 

California 2,138,745.76 

Florida 20,201,660.52 

Illinois 1,457,399-20 

Indiana 1,254,270.73 

Iowa 873,816.42 

Louisiana 9,375,766.66 

Michigan 5,^55, 769-56 

Minnesota 4,662,927.10 

Mississippi 3,284,972.58 

Missouri 3,346,683.70 

Ohio 26,251.95 

Oregon 264,069.01 

Wisconsin 3,251,542.34 

Total 63,898,731.04 

In  addition  to  these  lands  in  place,  cash  and  land 
indemnity  has  been  given  to  the  same  states  under  the 
acts  of  March  2,  1855  (10  Stat.,  634),  and  March  3, 
1857  (11  Stat.,  251),  now  Sections  2482,  2483,  and  2484, 
United  States  Revised  Statutes,  as  follows : 

334 


APPENDIX  B  335 

Cash  Land  (Acres) 

Alabama $     27,691.50  20,920.08 

Arkansas 374,450-°° 

Florida 67,221.69  94,782.80 

Illinois 473,875-99  2,309.07 

Indiana 39,080.14  4,880.20 

Iowa S87,477-59  321,976-98 

Louisiana 53,118.65  32,630.97 

Michigan 15,922.06  24,038.69 

Mississippi      ....  46,449.62  56,781.76 

Missouri 195,874.82  81,016.69 

Ohio 29,027.76 

Wisconsin 185,278.97  105,047.99 

Total $2,095,468.79  744,385-23 


APPENDIX  C 

The  Smith-Towner  Bill,  as  Introduced  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  May  19,  1919,  by 
Mr.  H.  M.  Towner,  of  Iowa 

A  Bill  to  create  a  Department  of  Education,  to 
authorize  appropriations  for  the  conduct  of  said  De- 
partment, to  authorize  the  appropriation  of  money  to 
encourage  the  States  in  the  promotion  and  support  of 
education,  and  for  other  purposes. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  there  is  hereby  created  an  executive  department  in 
the  Government  to  be  called  the  Department  of  Educa- 
tion, with  a  Secretary  of  Education,  who  shall  be  the 
head  thereof,  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  who 
shall  receive  a  salary  of  $12,000  per  annum,  and  whose 
tenure  of  office  shall  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  heads  of 
other  executive  departments ;  and  section  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  of  the  Revised  Statutes  is  hereby  amended 
to  include  such  department,  and  the  provisions  of  title 
4  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  including  all  amendments 
thereto,  are  hereby  made  applicable  to  said  department. 
The  Secretary  of  Education  shall  cause  a  seal  of  office 
to  be  made  for  such  department  of  such  device  as  the 

336 


APPENDIX  C  337 

President  shall  approve,  and  judicial  notice  shall  be 
taken  of  said  seal. 

Sec.  2.  That  there  shall  be  in  said  department  an 
Assistant  Secretary  of  Education  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President,  who  shall  receive  a  salary  of  $5000  per 
annum.  He  shall  perform  such  duties  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  Secretary  or  required  by  law.  There 
shall  also  be  one  chief  clerk  and  a  disbursing  clerk  and 
such  chiefs  of  bureaus  and  clerical  assistants  as  may 
from  time  to  time  be  authorized  by  Congress. 

Sec.  3.  That  there  is  hereby  transferred  to  the 
Department  of  Education  the  Bureau  of  Education, 
and  the  President  is  authorized  and  empowered  in  his 
discretion  to  transfer  to  the  Department  of  Education 
such  offices,  bureaus,  divisions,  boards,  or  branches  of 
the  Government,  connected  with  or  attached  to  any  of 
the  executive  departments  or  organized  independently 
of  any  department,  as  in  his  judgment  should  be  con- 
trolled by,  or  the  functions  of  which  should  be  exercised 
by,  the  Department  of  Education,  and  all  such  offices, 
bureaus,  divisions,  boards,  or  branches  of  the  Government 
so  transferred  by  the  President  or  by  act  of  Congress, 
shall  thereafter  be  administered  by  the  Department  of 
Education,  as  hereinafter  provided. 

All  officers,  clerks,  and  employees  employed  in  or  by 
any  office,  bureau,  division,  board,  or  branch  of  the 
Government,  transferred  in  accordance  with  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act  of  the  Department  of  Education,  shall 


338  APPENDIX  C 

each  and  all  be  transferred  to  said  Department  of  Educa- 
tion at  their  existing  grades  and  salaries,  except  where 
otherwise  provided  in  this  act ;  and  the  office  records  and 
papers  on  file  and  pertaining  exclusively  to  the  business 
of  any  such  office,  bureau,  division,  board,  or  branch 
of  the  Government  so  transferred,  together  with  the 
furniture  and  equipment  thereof,  shall  be  transferred  to 
said  department. 

Sec.  4.  That  the  Secretary  of  Education  shall  have 
charge,  in  the  buildings  or  premises  occupied  by  or 
assigned  to  the  Department  of  Education,  of  the  library, 
furniture,  fixtures,  records,  and  other  property  used 
therein  or  pertaining  thereto,  and  may  expend  for  rental 
of  appropriate  quarters  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
Department  of  Education  within  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  for  the  library,  furniture,  equipment,  and  all 
other  incidental  expenses,  such  sums  as  Congress  may 
provide  from  time  to  time. 

All  power  and  authority  conferred  by  law  upon  or 
exercised  by  the  head  of  any  executive  department,  or 
by  any  administrative  board,  over  any  officer,  office, 
bureau,  division,  board,  or  branch,  of  the  Government, 
transferred  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this 
act  to  the  Department  of  Education,  and  any  and  all 
business  arising  therefrom  or  pertaining  thereto,  and 
all  duties  performed  in  connection  therewith,  shall,  after 
such  transfer,  be  vested  in  and  exercised  by  the  Secretary 
of  Education. 


APPENDIX  C  339 

All  laws  prescribing  the  work  and  defining  the  duties 
and  powers  of  the  several  offices,  bureaus,  divisions, 
boards,  or  branches  of  the  Government,  transferred  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  Education,  shall,  in  so  far  as  the  same  are  not  in 
conflict  with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  remain  in  full 
force  and  effect  and  be  executed  by  the  Secretary  of 
Education,  to  whom  is  hereby  granted  definite  authority 
to  reorganize  the  work  of  any  and  all  of  the  said  offices, 
bureaus,  divisions,  boards,  or  branches  of  the  Government 
so  transferred,  in  such  way  as  will  in  his  judgment  best 
accomplish  the  purposes  of  this  act. 

Sec.  5.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Department 
of  Education  to  conduct  studies  and  investigations  in 
the  field  of  education  and  to  report  thereon.  Research 
shall  be  undertaken  in  (a)  illiteracy;  (b)  immigrant 
education;  (c)  public-school  education,  and  especially 
rural  education ;  (d)  physical  education,  including 
health  education,  recreation  and  sanitation ;  (e)  prep- 
aration and  supply  of  competent  teachers  for  the  public 
schools ;  and  (/)  in  such  other  fields  as,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  Secretary  of  Education,  may  require  attention  and 
study. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  this  section 
the  Secretary  of  Education  is  authorized,  in  the  same 
manner  as  provided  for  appointments  in  other  depart- 
ments, to  make  appointments,  or  recommendations  of 
appointments,  of  educational  attaches  to  foreign  em- 


340  APPENDIX   C 

bassies,  and  of  such  investigators  and  representatives 
as  may  be  needed,  subject  to  the  appropriations  that 
have  been  made  or  may  hereafter  be  made  to  any  office, 
bureau,  division,  board,  or  branch  of  the  Government, 
transferred  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this 
act  to  the  Department  of  Education ;  and  where  appro- 
priations have  not  been  made  therefor  the  appropriation 
provided  in  section  6  of  this  act  shall  be  available. 

Sec.  6.  That  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1921, 
and  annually  thereafter,  the  sum  of  $500,000  is  hereby 
authorized  to  be  appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the 
Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  to  the  Department 
of  Education,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  salaries  and  con- 
ducting investigations  and  paying  all  incidental  and 
traveling  expenses  and  rent  where  necessary,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  the  Department  of  Education  to 
carry  out  the  provisions  of  this  act.  And  all  appropria- 
tions which  have  been  made  and  which  may  hereafter 
be  made  to  any  office,  bureau,  division,  board,  or  branch 
of  the  Government,  transferred  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  this  act  to  the  Department  of  Education, 
are  hereby  continued  in  full  force  and  effect,  and  shall 
be  administered  by  the  Secretary  of  Education  in  such 
manner  as  is  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  7.  That  in  order  to  encourage  the  States  in  the 
promotion  and  support  of  education,  there  is  hereby 
authorized  to  be  appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the 
Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  for  the  fiscal  year 


APPENDIX  C  341 

ending  June  30,  192 1,  and  annually  thereafter, 
$100,000,000,  to  be  apportioned,  disbursed,  and  expended 
as  hereinafter  provided. 

Sec.  8.  That  in  order  to  encourage  the  States  to 
remove  illiteracy,  three-fortieths  of  the  sum  authorized 
to  be  appropriated  by  section  7  of  this  act  shall  be  used 
for  the  instruction  of  illiterates  ten  years  of  age  and  over. 
Such  instruction  shall  deal  with  the  common-school 
branches  and  the  duties  of  citizenship,  and  when  advis- 
able shall  prepare  for  some  definite  occupation.  Said 
sum  shall  be  apportioned  to  the  States  in  the  proportions 
which  their  respective  illiterate  populations  of  ten 
years  of  age  and  over,  not  including  foreign-born  illit- 
erates, bear  to  such  total  illiterate  population  of  the 
United  States,  not  including  outlying  possessions, 
according  to  the  last  preceding  census  of  the  United 
States. 

Sec.  9.  That  in  order  to  encourage  the  States  in  the 
Americanization  of  immigrants,  three-fortieths  of  the 
sum  authorized  to  be  appropriated  by  section  7  of  this 
act  shall  be  used  to  teach  immigrants  ten  years  of  age 
and  over  to  speak  and  read  the  English  language  and  to 
understand  and  appreciate  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the 
American  Government  and  the  duties  of  citizenship  in  a 
free  country.  The  said  sum  shall  be  apportioned  to  the 
States  in  the  proportions  which  their  respective  foreign- 
born  populations  bear  to  the  total  foreign-born  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States,  not  including  outlying  pos- 


342  APPENDIX   C 

sessions,  according  to  the  last  preceding  census  of  the 
United  States. 

Sec.  io.  That  in  order  to  encourage  the  States  to 
equalize  educational  opportunities,  five- tenths  of  the  sum 
authorized  to  be  appropriated  by  section  7  of  this  act 
shall  be  used  in  public  elementary  and  secondary  schools 
for  the  partial  payment  of  teachers'  salaries,  for  providing 
better  instruction  and  extending  school  terms,  especially 
in  rural  schools  and  schools  in  sparsely  settled  localities, 
and  otherwise  providing  equally  good  educational 
opportunities  for  the  children  in  the  several  States,  and 
for  the  extension  and  adaptation  of  public  libraries  for 
educational  purposes.  The  said  sum  shall  be  appor- 
tioned to  the  States,  one-half  in  the  proportions  which 
the  number  of  children  between  the  ages  of  six  and 
twenty-one  of  the  respective  States  bears  to  the  total 
number  of  such  children  in  the  United  States,  and  one- 
half  in  the  proportions  which  the  number  of  public- 
school  teachers  employed  in  teaching  positions  in  the 
respective  States  bears  to  the  total  number  of  public- 
school  teachers  so  employed  in  the  United  States,  not 
including  outlying  possessions,  said  apportionment  to 
be  based  upon  statistics  collected  annually  by  the 
Department  of  Education. 

Provided,  however,  That  in  order  to  share  in  the  appor- 
tionment provided  by  this  section  a  State  shall  establish 
and  maintain  the  following  requirements  unless  pre- 
vented by  constitutional  limitations,  in  which  case  these 


APPENDIX   C  343 

requirements  shall  be  approximated  as  nearly  as  con- 
stitutional provisions  will  permit:  (a)  a  legal  school 
term  of  at  least  twenty-four  weeks  in  each  year  for  the 
benefit  of  all  children  of  school  age  in  such  State ;  (b)  a 
compulsory  school  attendance  law  requiring  all  children 
between  the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen  to  attend  some 
school  for  at  least  twenty-four  weeks  in  each  year; 
(c)  a  law  requiring  that  the  English  language  shall  be 
the  basic  language  of  instruction  in  the  common-school 
branches  in  all  schools,  public  and  private. 

Sec.  ii.  That  in  order  to  encourage  the  States  in  the 
promotion  of  physical  education,  two-tenths  of  the  sum 
authorized  to  be  appropriated  by  section  7  of  this  act 
shall  be  used  for  physical  education  and  instruction  in 
the  principles  of  health  and  sanitation,  and  for  providing 
school  nurses,  school  dental  clinics,  and  otherwise  pro- 
moting physical  and  mental  welfare.  The  said  sum  shall 
be  apportioned  to  the  States  in  the  proportions  which 
their  respective  populations  bear  to  the  total  population 
of  the  United  States,  not  including  outlying  possessions, 
according  to  the  last  preceding  census  of  the  United 
States. 

Sec.  12.  That  in  order  to  encourage  the  States  in  the 
preparation  of  teachers  for  public-school  service,  par- 
ticularly in  rural  schools,  three- twentieths  of  the  sum 
authorized  to  be  appropriated  by  section  7  of  this  act 
shall  be  used  to  provide  and  extend  facilities  for  the 
improvement  of  teachers  already  in  service  and  for  the 


344 


APPENDIX    C 


more  adequate  preparation  of  prospective  teachers,  and 
to  provide  an  increased  number  of  trained  and  compe- 
tent teachers  by  encouraging,  through  the  establishment 
of  scholarships  and  otherwise,  a  greater  number  of 
talented  young  people  to  make  adequate  preparation  for 
public-school  service.  The  said  sum  shall  be  appor- 
tioned to  the  States  in  the  proportions  which  the  number 
of  public-school  teachers  employed  in  teaching  positions 
in  the  respective  States  bears  to  the  total  number  of 
public-school  teachers  so  employed  in  the  United  States, 
not  including  outlying  possessions,  said  apportionments 
to  be  based  on  statistics  collected  annually  by  the 
Department  of  Education. 

Sec.  13.  That  in  order  to  secure  the  benefits  of  the 
appropriation  authorized  in  section  7,  and  of  any  of  the 
apportionments  made  in  sections  8,  9,  10,  n,  and  12  of 
this  act,  a  State  shall  by  legislative  enactment  accept  the 
provisions  of  this  act  and  provide  for  the  distribution  of 
such  funds  as  may  be  apportioned  to  said  State,  and  shall 
designate  the  State's  chief  educational  authority,  whether 
a  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  a  com- 
missioner of  education,  a  State  board  of  education,  or 
other  legally  constituted  chief  educational  authority, 
to  represent  said  State  in  the  administration  of  this  act, 
and  such  authority  so  designated  shall  be  recognized 
by  the  Secretary  of  Education :  Provided,  That  in  any 
State  in  which  the  legislature  does  not  meet  in  1920, 
the  governor  of  said  State,  in  so  far  as  he  may  have 


APPENDIX    C  345 

authority  so  to  do,  may  take  such  action,  temporarily, 
as  is  herein  provided  to  be  taken  by  legislative  enactment 
in  order  to  secure  the  benefits  of  this  act,  and  such 
action  by  the  governor  shall  be  recognized  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  Education  for  the  purposes  of  this  act,  when 
reported  by  the  chief  educational  authority  designated  to 
represent  said  State,  until  the  legislature  of  said  State 
shall  have  met  in  due  course  and  been  in  session  sixty 
days. 

In  any  State  accepting  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the 
State  treasurer  shall  be  designated  and  appointed  as 
custodian  of  all  funds  received  by  said  State  as  appor- 
tionments under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  to  receive 
and  provide  for  the  proper  custody  and  disbursement 
of  the  same,  such  disbursements  to  be  made  in  accordance 
with  the  legal  provisions  of  said  State,  on  warrants  duly 
drawn  by  the  State's  chief  educational  authority  desig- 
nated to  represent  said  State  in  the  administration  of 
this  act. 

A  State  may  accept  the  provisions  of  any  one  or  more 
of  the  respective  apportionments  authorized  in  sec- 
tions 8,  9,  io,  ii,  and  12  of  this  act,  and  may  defer  the 
acceptance  of  any  one  or  more  of  said  apportionments : 
Provided,  however,  That  no  money  shall  be  apportioned 
to  any  State  from  any  of  the  funds  provided  in  sec- 
tions 8,  9,  10,  11,  and  12  of  this  act,  unless  a  sum  equally 
as  large  shall  be  provided  by  said  State,  or  by  local 
authorities,  or  by  both,  for  the  same  purpose:    And 


346  APPENDIX   C 

provided,  That  the  sum  or  sums  provided  by  a  State  for 
the  equalization  of  educational  opportunities,  for  the 
promotion  of  physical  education,  and  for  the  preparation 
of  teachers,  shall  not  be  less  for  any  year  than  the  amount 
provided  for  the  same  purpose  for  the  fiscal  year  next 
preceding  the  acceptance  of  the  provisions  of  this  act 
by  said  State:  And  provided  further ,  That  no  money 
apportioned  to  any  State  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act  shall  be  used  by  any  State  or  local  authority,  directly 
or  indirectly,  for  the  purchase,  rental,  erection,  preserva- 
tion, or  repair  of  any  building  or  equipment,  or  for  the 
purchase  or  rental  of  land,  or  for  the  payment  of  debts 
or  the  interest  thereon. 

Sec.  14.  That  when  a  State  shall  have  accepted 
the  provisions  of  this  act  and  shall  have  provided  for  the 
distribution  and  administration  of  such  funds  as  may 
be  apportioned  to  said  State,  as  herein  provided,  the 
State's  chief  educational  authority  designated  to  repre- 
sent said  State  shall  so  report  in  writing  to  the  Secretary 
of  Education.  If  such  report  shows  that  said  State  is 
prepared  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  this  act  with 
respect  to  any  one  or  more  of  the  apportionments 
authorized  in  sections  8,  9,  10,  n,  and  12  of  this  act, 
the  Secretary  of  Education  shall  apportion  to  said  State 
for  the  fiscal  year,  or  for  the  remainder  of  the  fiscal  year, 
as  the  case  may  be,  such  funds  as  said  State  may  be 
entitled  to  receive  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and 
shall  certify  such  apportionment  or  apportionments  to 


APPENDIX  C  347 

the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury :  Provided,  That  this  act 
shall  not  be  construed  to  require  uniformity  of  plans, 
means,  or  methods  in  the  several  States  in  order  to  secure 
the  benefits  herein  provided,  except  as  specifically  stated 
herein :  And  provided  further,  That  all  the  educational 
facilities  encouraged  by  the  provisions  of  this  act  and 
accepted  by  a  State  shall  be  organized,  supervised,  and 
administered  exclusively  by  the  legally  constituted 
State  and  local  educational  authorities  of  said  State,  and 
the  Secretary  of  Education  shall  exercise  no  authority 
in  relation  thereto  except  as  herein  provided  to  insure 
that  all  funds  apportioned  to  said  State  shall  be  used  for 
the  purposes  for  which  they  are  appropriated,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  accepted 
by  said  State. 

Sec.  15.  That  the  Secretary  of  Education  is  author- 
ized to  prescribe  plans  for  keeping  accounts  of  the  ex- 
penditures of  such  funds  as  may  be  apportioned  to  the 
States  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  to  audit  such 
accounts.  The  Secretary  of  Education  may  withhold 
the  apportionment  or  apportionments  of  any  State  for 
the  next  ensuing  fiscal  year  whenever  he  shall  determine 
that  such  apportionment  or  apportionments  made  to 
said  State  for  the  current  fiscal  year  are  not  being  ex- 
pended in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act: 
Provided,  however,  That  before  withholding  any  such 
apportionment  from  any  State,  as  herein  provided,  the 
Secretary  of  Education  shall  give  due  notice  in  writing 


348  APPENDIX   C 

to  the  chief  educational  authority  designated  to  represent 
said  State,  stating  specifically  wherein  said  State  fails 
to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

If  any  portion  of  the  money  received  by  the  treasurer 
of  a  State  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  for  any  of  the 
purposes  herein  provided  shall,  by  action  or  contingency, 
be  diminished  or  lost,  the  same  shall  be  replaced  by  said 
State,  and  until  so  replaced  no  subsequent  apportionment 
for  such  purpose  shall  be  paid  to  said  State.  If  any  part 
of  the  funds  apportioned  annually  to  any  State  for  any 
of  the  purposes  named  in  sections  8,  9,  10,  11,  and  12  of 
this  act  has  not  been  expended  for  such  purpose,  a  sum 
equal  to  such  unexpended  part  shall  be  deducted  from 
the  next  succeeding  annual  apportionment  made  to 
said  State  for  such  purpose. 

Sec.  16.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is 
hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  pay  quarterly,  on  the 
1st  day  of  July,  October,  January  and  April,  to  the 
treasury  of  any  State  designated  to  receive  such  funds, 
such  apportionment  or  apportionments  as  are  properly 
certified  to  him  by  the  Secretary  of  Education,  and  he 
shall  discontinue  such  payments  when  notified  so  to 
do  by  the  Secretary  of  Education,  as  provided  in  this 
act. 

Sec.  17.  That  the  chief  educational  authority  desig- 
nated to  represent  any  State  receiving  the  benefits  of  this 
act,  shall,  not  later  than  September  1  of  each  year,  make 
a  report  to  the  Secretary  of  Education  showing  the  work 


APPENDIX  C  349 

done  in  said  State  in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  and  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  money  ap- 
portioned to  said  State  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 
If  the  chief  educational  authority  designated  to  represent 
any  State  shall  fail  to  report  as  herein  provided,  the 
Secretary  of  Education  shall  notify  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  discontinue  the  payment  of  all  apportion- 
ments to  said  State  until  such  report  shall  have  been 
made. 

Sec.  18.  That  the  Secretary  of  Education  shall  annu- 
ally at  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year  make  a  report  in 
writing  to  Congress  giving  an  account  of  all  moneys 
received  and  disbursed  by  the  Department  of  Education, 
and  describing  the  work  done  by  the  department.  He 
shall  also,  not  later  than  December  i  of  each  year,  make 
a  report  to  Congress  on  the  administration  of  sections  7, 
8,  9,  10,  n,  12,  13,  14,  15,  16,  and  17  of  this  act,  and 
shall  include  in  said  report  a  summary  of  the  reports 
made  to  him  by  the  several  States  showing  the  condition 
of  public  education  therein,  and  shall  at  the  same  time 
make  such  recommendations  to  Congress  as  will,  in 
his  judgment,  improve  public  education  in  the  United 
States.  He  shall  also  from  time  to  time  make  such 
special  investigations  and  reports  as  may  be  required  of 
him  by  the  President  or  by  Congress. 

Sec.  19.  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  April  1,  1920, 
and  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  in  conflict  with  this  act  are 
hereby  repealed. 


APPENDIX  D 

Non-English  Speaking  Elements  in  the 
Population 

The  Census  of  1910  shows  that  of  the  12,944,529 
foreign-born  whites  ten  years  of  age  or  over  in  the 
United  States,  2,953,011,  or  22.8  per  cent  of  the  group, 
were  unable  to  speak  English.  In  1900,  there  were 
1,217,280  foreign-born  whites,  ten  years  of  age  or  over, 
or  12.2  per  cent  of  the  total  of  10,014,256.  The  number 
of  foreign-born  whites  unable  to  speak  English  increased 
from  1,217,280  to  2,953,011  in  ten  years,  —  an  increase 
of  142.6  per  cent  in  a  decade.  Only  seven  states  had  a 
population  larger  than  this  total.  The  entire  population 
of  the  eight  Mountain  states  ■ —  Montana,  Idaho, 
Wyoming,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Utah,  and 
Nevada  —  would  have  to  be  increased  by  the  population 
of  Delaware  and  by  117,172  to  equal  the  number  of 
non-English  speaking  foreign-born  whites  ten  years  of 
age  or  over  who  lived  in  the  United  States  in  1910. 
This  group  of  non-English  speaking  foreign-born  whites, 
2,953,011,  is  4.12  per  cent  of  the  total  of  71,580,270 
who  were  ten  years  of  age  or  over.  This  means  that 
more  than  one  in  twenty-five  of  those  ten  years  of  age 
or  over  are  unable  to  speak  English.  Of  the  foreign-born 
whites  of  this  group  resident  in  urban  communities  21.9 
per  cent  could  not  speak  English,  while  25.2  per  cent 
of  the  foreign-born  whites  resident  in  rural  communities 
could  not  speak  English. 

350 


APPENDIX  D 


35* 


Since  the  facilities  for  teaching  foreigners  to  speak 
English  are  available  chiefly  through  the  night  schools 
of  the  cities,  it  is  well  to  know  that  of  the  total  already 
mentioned,  2,042,881,  or  61.17  per  cent,  lived  in  urban 
communities  and  910,130,  or  30.82  per  cent,  lived  in 
rural  communities.  Those  living  in  rural  communities 
have  very  little  opportunity  of  learning  to  speak  English. 
They  remain  practically  illiterate  even  though  they 
learn  to  speak  the  little  English  which  their  occupation 
forces  on  them,  "  except  in  New  England  and  the  East 
North  Central  division,  the  percentage  unable  to  speak 
English  for  foreign-born  whites  was  higher  in  the  rural 
population  of  each  division  than  it  was  in  the  urban."  * 
This  is  such  an  important  matter  that  the  following 
table  has  been  prepared  2  to  show  the  per  cent  of  foreign- 
born  white  population  ten  years  of  age  and  over  unable 
to  speak  English  in  the  urban  and  rural  communities  of 
different  divisions  of  our  country. 

Per  Cent  Foreign-born  Whites  Ten  Years  of  Age  and  Over 

Unable  to  Speak  English  and  Resident  in 


Urban  Communities       Rural  Communities 


New  England  .  . 
Middle  Atlantic  .  . 
East  North  Central 
West  North  Central 
South  Atlantic  .  . 
East  South  Central 
West  South  Central 
Mountain  .  .  .  . 
Pacific 


14.9 

24-5 
24.8 
14.8 
20.2 

8.7 
3°-9 
15.2 

9.9 


16.2 
34-3 
19-3 
19.1 

35-7 
18.0 

53-9 
27.9 

19-3 


1  Thirteenth  Census  Reports,  Vol.  i,  p.  1274. 

J  Made  from  Table  15,  p.  1275,  Thirteenth  Census  Reports,  Vol.  1. 


352  APPENDIX   D 

The  preceding  table  shows  conclusively  that  the  prob- 
lem of  Americanization  is  not  exclusively  an  urban 
problem,  and  hints  that  possibly  the  most  difficult  phases 
of  it  will  be  found  in  rural  communities,  in  which  the 
public-school  facilities  are  so  hopelessly  inadequate. 

It  is  quite  generally  known  that  a  great  number  of 
immigrants  entered  our  country  from  1900  to  1910, 
and  quite  as  generally  known  that  many  of  these  immi- 
grants have  not  learned  to  speak  English.  Just  how 
great  is  this  increase  in  foreign-born  whites  unable  to 
speak  English  is  shown  in  the  table  which  follows.  The 
number  of  foreign-born  whites  ten  years  of  age  and  over 
and  unable  to  speak  English  in  each  division  and  state 
is  shown  in  column  one  for  1900,  for  1 910  in  column  two. 
The  increase  for  the  decade  is  shown  in  column  three  and 
the  per  cent  of  increase  is  shown  in  column  four.  When 
we  bear  in  mind  that  immigration  continued  unchecked 
until  1 91 4  and  that  very  little  has  been  done  to  teach 
foreigners  to  speak  English  except  in  the  night  schools 
of  our  cities,  it  becomes  evident  that  the  language  aspect 
of  Americanization  is  as  vast  as  it  is  important. 


Foreign-born  White  Population  Ten  Years  of  Age  and  Over 
Unable  to  Speak  English  in  1900,  19 10,  the  Increase,  and 
the  Per  Cent  of  Increase1 


Number 

in 

1900 

Number 

in 

1910 

Increase 

from  1900 

to  1910 

Per  Cent 

of 
Increase 

Continental  United  Slates: 
North  Atlantic  Division 
North  Central  Division 
South  Atlantic  Division 
South  Central  Division 
Western  Division      .     . 

1,217,280 

585,617 

471,418 

19,518 

85,661 

55,o66 

2,953,on 

1,544,588 

968,581 

71,389 

158,011 

210,442 

i,735,73i 

958,97i 

497,163 

51,871 

72,350 

155,376 

142.6 
163.7 
105.4 
26s. 7 
84.4 
282.1 

North  Atlantic  Division: 

New  Hampshire  .     .     . 

Massachusetts      .     .     . 
Rhode  Island  .... 
Connecticut     .... 

New  Jersey     .... 
Pennsylvania  .... 

13,919 
17,107 
3,921 
76,637 
17,029 
26,816 

220,306 
48,709 

161,173 

19,589 

26,783 

8,342 

171,014 

36,961 

64,201 

597,012 

153,861 

466,825 

5,670 

9,676 

4,421 

94,377 

19,932 

37,385 

376,706 

105.152 

305,652 

40.7 
56.S 
112. 7 
123. 1 
117.0 
139-4 
170.9 
215.8 
189.6 

North  Central  Division :     . 

North  Dakota      .    .    . 
South  Dakota      .     .     . 

51,752 
n,339 
103,301 
49,342 
86,797 
68,894 
25,544 
I4,5H 
18,082 
13,104 
17,908 
10,844 

163,722 

40,731 

266,557 

102,286 

120,665 

89,850 

37,169 

37,747 

33.491 

18,486 

29,519 

28,358 

111,970 
29,392 

163,256 
52,944 
33,868 
20,956 
11,625 
23,236 
15,409 
5,382 
11,611 
1/014 

216.3 

259.2 

158.0 

107.3 

39o 

30.4 

45-5 

1 60. 1 

85.2 

41.0 

64.8 

161. 5 

South  Atlantic  Division: 

District  of  Columbia     . 

West  Virginia  .... 
North  Carolina    .     .     . 
South  Carolina     .     .     . 

1,529 

7,520 
254 
827 

3,6l2 

123 

52 

177 

5,424 

4,824 

17,544 

1,349 

3,983 

27,461 

779 

447 

953 

14,049 

3,295 

10,024 

1,095 

3,156 

23,849 

656 

395 

776 

8,625 

215-5 
133-3 
43I-I 
381.6 
660.2 
533-3 
759-6 
438.4 
I59-0 

South  Central  Division: 

Mississippi      .... 

Louisiana 

Texas 

1,850 

675 

759 

334 

877 

7,8i7 

1,718 

71,631 

3,816 
1,648 
3,028 
i,49i 
2,741 
11,547 
7,975 
125,765 

1,966 
973 
2,269 
1,157 
1,864 
3,730 
6,257 
54,134 

106.2 
1441 
298.9 
346-4 
212.5 

47-7 
364.2 

755 

Western  Division: 

Wyoming 

New  Mexico    .... 

Utah 

Nevada  

Washington     .... 

California 

3,109 
921 
1,962 
6,429 
5.478 
9,775 
2,208 
477 
3,8l5 
2,oR7 

18,805 

I3,7i8 

S,8os 

5,970 

22,610 

11,776 

25,072 

8,129 

3,557 

25,568 

13,5^1 

74,7o6 

10,609 
4,884 
4,008 
16,181 
6,298 
15,297 
5,921 
3,o8o 
21,753 
n.444 
5S,9oi 

341-2 
530-2 
204.2 
251-7 
II4-9 
156.5 
268.1 
645.7 
S70.I 
548.3 

297-2 

1  From  Table  18,  Thirteenth  Census  Reports,  Vol.  i,  p.  1277. 
2  A  353 


INDEX 


Ability  to  speak  English:  not  a  test 
of  literacy,  167. 

Abstract  of  the  Census  (1910)  :  quoted, 
145,  146,  148,  149,  156-157,  160- 
161,   166,    167,   191,    192,    193,    203, 

3Si.  353- 

Act  of  July  23,  1787,  35-36. 

Act  of  1785,  16;  28;  29;  33. 

Act :  Adams,  79 ;  Hatch,  76-77 ; 
Morrill,  69-73;  77~78;  78-79; 
Nelson,  79;  of  July  23,  1787:  35- 
36;  of  1785,  16,  28,  29,  53;  Smith- 
Hughes,  97-100;  Smith-Lever,  79- 
80;  Surplus  Revenue,  55-60;  of 
1841,  60-61. 

Adams  Act  of  1906,  79. 

Administration,  machinery  of:  ob- 
jectionable to  teachers,  231-232. 

Alabama:  malaria  in,  174;  typhoid 
fever  in,  174;  hookworm  in,  177; 
diseases  among  school  children  in, 
177;  educational  conditions  in,  222- 
225;  diagram  comparing  rural  and 
urban  children  by  age-grade  dis- 
tribution in,  274. 

Alabama  Survey,  174,  177. 

Aliens,  121-123. 

"Alien  Islands,"  201. 

Allotments  of  Smith-Towner  Bill :  for 
removal  of  illiteracy,  152-153;  for 
Americanization,  171-172;  for  equal- 
izing educational  opportunities,  276; 
for  establishing  health  programs, 
181-182. 

Amendment,  Sixteenth,  314. 

Americanization,  162  ff;  problem  of, 
doubled  in  ten  years,  168;  must  be 
solved  by  the  states,  168;  Congress 
should  stimulate  states  to  under- 
take effective  programs  of,  169; 
details  of  should  be  left  to  the  states, 
169-170. 

A  more  perfect  union :  dependent  on 
public  education,  206. 

Analogy :  between  state  boards  and 
national      executive      departments, 


faulty,  304-306;  between  voca- 
tional education  and  the  Smith- 
Towner  Bill,  faulty,  305-306. 

Annapolis,  genesis  of,  92. 

Armstrong,  General :  organized  Hamp- 
ton Institute,  85. 

Army  Engineer  School,  91. 

Army  tests  and  literacy,  196. 

Army  War  College,  91. 

Arrested  development,  97. 

Athens,  Ohio  University,  established 
at,  38;  grant  for,  38. 

Atherton,  G.  W. :  quoted  on  relation 
of  general  government  to  education, 
109-110;   for  Federal  Aid,  109-110. 

Attitude  of  public  toward  teaching, 
212-219. 

Bankhead,      Representative     W.    B., 

135- 
Bill:  Fess,  118;  Burkett-Pollard,  116; 
Lane  :  135-141 ;  objection  to,  139- 
141 ;  inadequate,  141 ;  faulty,  139- 
141 ;  Owen  Educational,  134-135  ; 
by  Senator  Blair,  115;  Smith- 
Towner  :  introduced  in  Congress, 
142  ;  general  provisions  of,  142-143  ; 
text  of,  336-349;   Blair  Bill  of  1887, 

US- 

Blair,  Senator:  for  Federal  aid  for 
the  removal  of  illiteracy,  112;  be- 
fore the  Department  of  Superin- 
tendence, N.  E.  A.,  115. 

Board  of  Education  (Federal) :  cannot 
take  place  of  Secretary  of  Education, 
300-306. 

Board,  Southern  Education,  144. 

Bourne,  R.  G.,  quoted  on  Surplus 
Revenue  Act  of  1837,  60. 

Buchanan,  James  P.,  vetoed  Morrill 
Bill,  68-69. 

Bureau  of  Education,  86-90;  estab- 
lished as  a  Department  in  1867,  87; 
made  a  Bureau  in  1869,  87;  de- 
fects of,  88-89;  excellent  work  of, 
88-89 ;   leadership,  88 ;   meager  sup- 


355 


356 


INDEX 


port  of,  8g-go;  approved  by 
N.  E.  A.,  118;  expansion  into  a 
Department,    no;     in    Owen    Bill, 

134-135- 

Burkett-Pollard  Bill,  116. 

Cash  and  land  indemnity  grants,  335. 

Chart:  showing  comparison  of 
teachers'  salaries  and  wages  in 
other  occupations,  214. 

Children:  once  regarded  as  property 
of  parents,  264. 

Claflin  University,  founded,  85. 

Coast  Artillery  School,  gi. 

Coffman,  L.  D.,  quoted  on  composition 
of  teaching  population,  215. 

Colleges:  colonial,  11-12. 

Colleges  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic 
Arts:  House  Committee  report  on 
in  1875,  112;  established,  6g.  (See 
"Land-Grant"  Colleges.) 

Common  Defense:  dependent  on 
public  education,  205. 

Common  Schools:  fundamental  prob- 
lem of,  281.  (See  Public  Schools  and 
Schools.) 

Communities:  cannot  solve  educa- 
tional problems  alone,  312. 

Community :  boundaries  of  widened,  3. 

Congress:  has  no  right  to  control 
education  in  the  states,  3og ;  has 
the  right  to  promote  education  in 
the  states,  300-310;  summary  of 
its  grants  in  aid  of  education,  3og- 
310;  has  made  grants  rather  than 
subventions,  310-31 1;  has  always 
been  interested  in  the  development 
of  public  education,  313  ;  since  1862, 
has  been  interested  in  vocational 
education,  313;  how  is  it  to  get 
money  for  aiding  education  in  the 
states?  313-314- 

Connecticut:  Western  Reserve  in 
Ohio,  24-25  ;  grant  of  one  township 
to,  by  Congress,  in  i8ig,  for  educa- 
tion of  deaf  and  dumb  persons,  63 ; 
school  fund  of,  242. 

Constitution  :  its  silence  on  education 
explained,  34;  the  General  Welfare 
clause,  34 ;  provisions  that  included 
Federal  aid  to  education,  40 ;  educa- 
tional inferences,  41 ;  Tenth  Amend- 
ment to,  40;    gives  no  control  over 


public    education    in    the    states  to 

Congress,  41. 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1787,  3g- 

40 ;  Madison's  educational  proposals, 

3g;   National  university,  3g;    agree- 
ment   concerning,    40;     visited    by 

Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,  3g. 
Continuation  Schools:    purpose  of,  in 

Germany,  132  (footnote). 
Cornell,    Ezra:      secured    endowment 

for     New     York's     "Land-Grant" 

College,  74. 
Cubberley  and  Elliott:    table  showing 

specific  land  grants  quoted  from,  52. 
Cubberley,  E.  P.,  quoted  on  principles 

of  state  taxation,  241. 
Curry,  J.  L.  M.,  quoted  on  function 

of  government  in  education,  114. 
Cutler,    Rev.    Manasseh,    35,     36  £T ; 

letter  of,  quoted,  37 ;    Poole,  W.  F., 

quoted,  concerning,  37~38. 

Democracy :  fundamental  characteris- 
tic of,  280 ;  fundamental  educational 
problem  of,  281. 

Department  of  Education :  argument 
for,  2g2-3o8;  domination  from 
Washington,  in  educational  matters, 
impossible,  2g3 ;  how  created  and 
organized,  2g3-2g4;  precedent  for, 
2g4-2gs ;  to  secure  leadership,  not 
control,  2gs;  necessary  to  prepare 
educational  budget  for  Congress, 
2g5-2g6 ;  needed  to  integrate  present 
educational  work  of  Federal  Govern- 
ment, 2g6-2g7  ;  needed  to  coordinate 
and  integrate  educational  forces  of 
the  nation,  2g7~2g8;  needed  for 
educational  leadership,  2g8-2gg ; 
needed  for  solution  of  international 
educational  problems,  2gg-3oo ; 
needed  to  give  to  education  status, 
dignity,  and  influence  it  should 
have,  300-301 ;  and  politics,  306- 
307 ;  not  a  step  toward  national 
control,  307-308. 

Diagram :  showing  percentages  of  chil- 
dren of  normal  age-grade  in  rural 
and  urban  schools  of  Alabama,  274 ; 
showing  comparative  death  rates, 
urban  and  rural,  ig8;  showing 
health  defects  of  school  children, 
igg;     showing    amount    of    money 


INDEX 


357 


behind  each  child  for  school  pur- 
poses in  is  counties  in  Pennsylvania, 
255 1  showing  variation  in  rate  of 
assessment  and  in  tax  rates  for  school 
purposes  in  15  counties  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 255. 

"Direct  War  Tax"  of  1861 :  returned 
to  states  in  i8gi,  62. 

Diseases  among  school  children,  in 
Alabama,  177. 

Distribution  of  school  funds:  on  basis 
of  need,  260 ;  present  plan  of,  wholly 
inadequate  to  present  needs,  261- 
262 ;  origin  of  present  plan,  261- 
262  ;  on  basis  of  aggregate  days,  262  ; 
on  basis  of  teacher,  262 ;  present 
plans  of,  are  intrenched,  263  ;  should 
create  a  "square  deal"  educationally, 
263. 

Distribution  of  school  funds  on  basis 
of  need,  260. 

Distributive  Act  of  1841,  60-61 ;  pro- 
visions of,  60-61 ;  proceeds  applied 
to  education  in  District  of  Columbia, 
61 ;  related  to  grants  of  land  for 
internal  improvements,  61-62,  foot- 
note.    (See  Surplus  Revenue  Act.) 

District  system :  outgrowth  of  theory 
of  local  self  government,  9. 

Domestic  tranquillity:  dependent  on 
public  education,  206. 

Domination  from  Washington:  im- 
possible, 304. 

Donaldson:  author  of  The  Public 
Domain,  quoted  on  distribution  of 
money  under  act  of  1841,  61. 

Education,  Bureau  of,  86-90;  ap- 
proved by  N.  E.  A.,  118;  expansion 
into  a  Department,  119.  (See 
Bureau  of  Education  and  Depart- 
ment of  Education.) 

Education :  controlled  by  Congress 
in  territories,  Porto  Rico,  Hawaii, 
the  Philippines,  and  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  93 ;  control  of,  in  the 
states,  106 ;  control  of,  by  Congress, 
impossible  and  undesirable,  106 ; 
in  remote  districts,  of  national 
significance,  124;  a  national  neces- 
sity, 264;  parents'  responsibility  for 
of  children,  264;  is  complex  and, 
multiple,  265 ;    national  interest  in, 


265;  reserved  to  the  states  by  the 
Tenth  Amendment,  265-266;  may 
be  promoted  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, 265-266;  development  of,  in 
states,  stimulated  by  national  grants, 
28S. 

Education  of  foreign-born:  neglected, 
165-166. 

Educational  Opportunities,  Equaliza- 
tion of:  need  for,  125;  equalization 
of,  240-277 ;  and  social  justice,  240 ; 
does  not  exist  in  any  state,  247-248 ; 
meaning  of,  248  ;  movement  toward, 
249;  impossible  without  equally 
well  prepared  teachers  for  every 
school,  249;  lack  of,  revealed  by 
war,  249 ;  relation  of  assessment 
rates  to,  218;  cannot  be  brought 
about  by  higher  rates  of  taxation, 
258;  impossible  without  a  state 
tax  commission,  or  similar  body, 
218;  demands  on  financial  side, 
260;  demands  on  educational  side, 
261 ;  in  Smith-Towner  Bill,  272- 
273 ;  effort  and  need  are  factors  in, 
273 ;  funds  for  by  Smith-Towner 
Bill,  275  ;  distribution  of  funds  for, 
276;  right  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, 266. 

Eliot,  Dr.  Charles:  quoted,  108-109; 
against  Federal  aid,  108-iog ;  against 
a  National  University,  in. 

English:  inability  to  speak  among 
foreign-born,  167-168. 

Evenden,  E.  S.,  quoted  on  teachers' 
salaries,  214. 

Factory  plan  of  school  administration, 
231-232;  evil  effects  of,  in  schools, 
232-233 ;   how  to  overcome,  234. 

Fanner,  A.  N.,  quoted  on  qualifica- 
tions of  teachers  in  Wisconsin,  226- 
227. 

"Farmers'  High  School,"  65. 

Farmers'  Institutes:  provided  for  by 
Congress,  80. 

Federal  Aid  to  Education  and  the 
N.  E.  A.,  107-119. 

Federal  aid  to  education:  Lot  No.  16, 
16;  22-34;  Five  Per  cent  lunds> 
53-55 ;  salt  lands,  45~46 ;  swamp 
lands,  48-50;  university  grants, 
35-44;    discussed  in   Constitutional 


358 


INDEX 


Convention  of  1787,  30-41 ;  internal 
improvement  lands,  46-48;  specific 
land  grants,  51-52;  money  grants, 
53-63;  Hatch  Act  of  1887,  76-77; 
second  Morrill  Act,  77-78;  does 
not  pauperize  the  states,  81 ;  voca- 
tional, 94-100;  Smith-Hughes  Act, 
97-100;  principles  embodied  in 
various  acts  of  Congress  granting, 
101-106;  for  public  schools,  101- 
102  ;  for  colleges  and  state  universi- 
ties, 102-103 ;  for  educational  and 
welfare  work,  103;  for  preparation 
of  vocational  teachers,  103-104 ;  for 
collection  and  spread  of  information 
relating  to  education,  104;  for 
purely  national  ends,  105 ;  for  ed- 
ucation of  Indians  and  other  wards, 
105;  opposed  by  the  endowed 
colleges,  117;  to  stimulate  the 
states,  119;  needed  particularly 
in  post-war  days,  290;  292. 

Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Educa- 
tion: duties  of,  97-100;  appropria- 
tions for  use  of,  98 ;  type  of,  not 
suited  to  purposes  of  Smith-Towner 
Bill,  305. 

Federal  Control  of  Education :  im- 
possible, 90;  by  contract  with  the 
states,  of  doubtful  validity,  154. 

Federal  Government :  not  qualified  to 
undertake  programs  of  Americaniza- 
tion, 170. 

Female  Colleges,  113. 

Fess  Bill,  118. 

Fisk  University,  established,  85. 

Five  per  cent  funds,  53-55 ;  to  Cali- 
fornia, 43.. 

Foreign-born:  under  the  sanction  of 
Federal  law,  164 ;  theory  of  ad- 
mission of,  164;  education  of, 
neglected,  165-166;  increase  of, 
since  1S60,  166;  shift  in  origin  of, 
167;  table  showing  distribution  of 
by  states  and  divisions,  171-172. 

Foreign-born  illiterates,  162-163;  do 
not  fit  into  our  social  life,  163. 

Foreign-language  press,  162-163. 

Fort  Monroe,  school  at,  91. 

Free  public  schools:  relation  of  to 
democracy,  32-33 ;  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Middle  West,  34. 

Freedmen's  Bureau,  83-86 ;   created  in 


1865/84;   educational  work  of,  84- 
85 ;  discontinued,  86. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  speech  of,  87-88. 

Gospel  and  school  lot:  in  New  York, 
19-20;   in  Ohio,  20-21. 

Grant,  defined,  310. 

Grants  of  land  to  states :  tabular  state- 
ment showing  grants  to  separate 
states  and  for  specific  purposes 
within  each  state,  325-333. 

Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural 
Institute,  established,  85. 

Harper,  President :  report  on  National 
University,  117. 

"Hatch  Act,"  76-77. 

Hawkins,  Dexter  A.,  need  of  federal 
aid,  114. 

Health  Defects:  largely  remedial,  173. 

Health  education,  173  fi. ;  necessity 
for,  126;  in  cities  and  country,  197- 
200;  diagram  comparing,  in  cities 
and  country,  199. 

Health  programs:  need  for  nation- 
wide, 178;  desirable  results  from, 
179;  and  the  Smith-Towner  Bill, 
178-179;  administration  of,  left  to 
states  by  the  Smith-Towner  Bill, 
180;  nation-wide  would  stimulate 
states  to  action,  180-181. 

High  School,  the  American:  its  rapid 
growth,  132;  and  military  needs, 
132. 

Hoar,  Senator,  on  plans  for  removing 
illiteracy,  75-76. 

Hookworm,  in  Alabama,  177. 

Howard  University,  established,  85. 

Illiteracy:  work  for  removal  of,  by 
churches,  144 ;  present  status, 
144  ff. ;  rate  of  decrease,  145-146; 
how  it  is  removed,  146-147;  educa- 
tional problems  involved  in,  147 ; 
how  deal  with  through  the  schools, 
147-148;  removal  of,  primarily  a 
public-school  problem,  148;  effect 
of,  on  social  conditions,  148;  due 
to  inadequate  public-school  facilities, 
150;  not  due  to  the  individual,  150; 
revealed  by  the  draft,  150;  problem 
of,  before  Congress  for  fifty  years, 
155;    among  the  foreign-born,  159, 


INDEX 


359 


160-161 ;  primarily  a  rural  problem, 
192 ;  due  to  inadequate  educational 
facilities,  194;  more  prevalent 
among  native-born  in  rural  com- 
munities than  among  children  of 
immigrants  in  cities,  194-195;  a 
rural  problem,  195 ;  army  tests 
revealed  "near  illiteracy,"  ig6. 
Illiterates:  totals,  thirty  years,  145; 
white  only,  145  ;  native-white,  145 ; 
negro,  146 ;  definition  of,  147 ;  table 
showing  distribution  of  negro  and 
native-white,  149;  age  groupings 
of,  149 ;  table  showing  distribution 
by  divisions  and  states,  by  numbers 
and  per  cents,  1 51-15  2;  table  show- 
ing distribution  of  Smith-Towner 
Bill  funds  for  removal  of  by  divisions 
and  states,  152-153 ;  classes  of  in 
1900  and  1 9 10,  compared  by  states 
and  divisions,  156-157;  state  and 
divisional  distribution  of  foreign- 
born  in  1900  and  1910,  160-161; 
foreign-born,  162  ;  triple  problem  in 
Americanizing  foreign-born,  162; 
proportion  of  in  rural  and  urban 
communities,  191 ;  number  of,  in 
rural  and  urban  communities,  192 ; 
more  prevalent  in  rural  than  in 
urban  communities,  192. 

Immigrants:  change  in  character  of, 
167  ;  over  ten  years  of  age,  167. 

Income :  not  determined  by  place  of 
residence,  316. 

Income  tax :  bulk  of  Federal  income, 
314;  based  on  ability  to  pay,  315; 
amendment  authorizing,  314;  pro- 
posed as  source  of  moneys  allotted 
by  Smith-Towner  Bill,  315-316; 
argument  for,  as  source  of  revenue  for 
educational  purposes,  320-322. 

Indian  education,  provided  for  by 
Congress,  00. 

"Industrial  Movement,"  65-69;  edu- 
cational fruits  of,  65;  related  to 
founding  of  "Land-Grant"  Colleges, 
81 ;  demanded  work  of  less  than 
college  grade,  94_Q5- 

Inefficiency  of  schools,  236-237. 

Interdependence,  economic,  275,  277. 

Interior,  Department  of :  related  to 
alienism  and  illiteracy,  135. 

Interior,  Secretary  of,  139;   not  quali- 


fied to  act  as  Secretary  of  Education, 

139- 
Internal  Improvement  Grants,  46-48. 
Irreducible  debt :  in  Ohio,  in  exchange 

for  the  public  school  fund,  27. 

Jefferson's  plan  of  1784,  20. 
Johnston,  Henry,  quoted  on  waste  of 

school  lands,  32. 
Justice,  dependent  on  public  education, 

206. 

Kandel,  I.  F.,  quoted  on  federal  aid 
for  vocational  education,  79. 

Land  Act  of  1785:  provisions  of,  16; 
extended  to  Louisiana  Purchase,  28; 
not  applicable  to  original  states,  29 ; 
significance  of,  33. 

"Land-Grant"  Colleges:  genesis  of, 
64-82 ;  early  difficulties  of,  75 ; 
President  McCosh,  regarding,  108; 
investigation  by  Congress,  in  1875, 
76,  ii2  ;  endowment  for,  sought,  75 ; 
Justin  S.  Morrill,  efforts  of,  in  1872 
to  get  funds  for,  75 ;  experiment 
stations  established  at,  76-77;  agri- 
cultural extension  in,  80;  growth 
of,  80;  related  to  "Industrial  Move- 
ment," 81 ;  income  of,  in  1915- 
1916,  81. 

Land  grant  funds:  not  always  wisely 
used,  44. 

Land  grants,  private:  for  support  of 
schools,  in  Virginia,  17;  in  New 
Haven,  18. 

Land  grants,  public :  for  support  of 
schools,  in  Boston,  18;  in  Dorches- 
ter, 18;  in  Connecticut,  18-19;  in 
Massachusetts,  18-20;  in  Georgia, 
19;  in  New  York,  19-20;  wasted, 
22;  waste  probably  necessary  to 
working  out  a  clear  policy,  22;  in 
aid  of  state  universities,  35,  41 ; 
saline  lands,  45 ;  saline  lands  to 
Ohio,  45 ;  saline  lands  to  Indiana, 
45 ;  saline  lands,  intention  of  Con- 
gress, regarding,  45 ;  saline  lands, 
disposition  of  by  the  states,  45-46; 
saline  lands,  table  of,  46;  thought 
of  little  value,  46;  for  internal  im- 
provements, 46-48 ;  for  internal  im- 
provements   in    1841,    46-47;     for 


360 


INDEX 


internal  improvements,  table  of,  47 ; 
for  internal  improvements,  use  of 
proceeds,  47-48;  for  internal  im- 
provements, used  for  educational 
purposes  without  authority,  48; 
swamp  lands,  48-50;  swamp  lands, 
origin  of  grants,  49;  swamp  lands, 
to  Louisiana,  49;  swamp  lands,  to 
other  states,  49 ;  swamp  lands,  table 
of,  50;  swamp  lands,  disposal  of, 
by  states,  50;  specific  grants,  dating 
from  1889,  51 ;  specific  grants,  table 
of,  52;  to  states,  for  colleges  of 
agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  64- 
76 ;  objected  to  by  original  states, 
65-66. 

Land  grants  to  state  universities : 
genesis  of  the  policy,  42  ;  table  show- 
ing various,  43  ;  special,  to  Utah,  43. 

Lane,  Secretary  F.  K.,  author  of  bill 
for  removal  of  illiteracy  and  Ameri- 
canization of  aliens,  135. 

Lawrence  County,  Pa.,  educational, 
wealth,  and  taxation  facts  regard- 
ing, 259. 

Leadership  in  education :   279-280. 

Lincoln,  Abraham:  signed  Morrill 
Bill,  69. 

Literacy,  limited,  195-197. 

Lot  No.  16:  set  aside  for  the  main- 
tenance of  public  schools,  16; 
genesis  of  plan,  16-17;  conditions 
of  grant  to  Ohio,  23-24 ;  in  Ohio, 
equivalent  of,  25 ;  Ohio  made 
trustee  for,  25-26;  disposal  of  in 
Ohio,  26 ;  proceeds  made  into  a 
fund,  27;  granted  to  townships,  27; 
granted  to  states,  27 ;  school  funds 
from  sale  of,  27 ;  states  receiving, 
table  of,  28;  mismanagement  of 
funds  from  disposal  of,  31-32; 
national  sanction  of  public  school 
involved  in  grant  of,  32. 

Lots  No.  16  and  No.  36:  set  aside  for 
schools  in  Oregon  Territory,  29 ; 
states  receiving,  table  of,  29. 

McCosh,  Dr.,  quoted  on  Upper  Schools, 
107-108;   on  Federal  aid,  107-108. 

Maine  :  claim  against  Federal  Govern- 
ment, 62. 

Malaria,  in  Alabama,  174. 

Mayo,  A.  D.,  on  need  of  federal  aid,  1 14. 


Miami  University,  Oxford,  Ohio: 
founded  on  Federal  land  grant  to 
the  Symmes  Company,  41. 

Millage  taxes:  theory  of,  246;  prin- 
ciples controlling,  246;  unrealized 
implication  of,  246-247;  and  equal- 
ity of  educational  opportunity,  247. 

Mills,  Roger  Q. :  Bill  for  female 
colleges,  113. 

Money  grants,  53-63;  five  per  cent 
funds,  53-55 ;  five  per  cent  funds, 
table  of,  showing  use  of,  54 ;  surplus 
revenue  act,  55-60 ;  surplus  revenue 
act,  tabular  statement  showing  dis- 
position of  by  states,  55,  57-60; 
distributive  act  of  1841,  60-61 ; 
forest  reserve  proceeds,  62;  minor 
grants,  62-63. 

Monroe,  James,  of  Ohio:  moved  to 
investigate  the  "Land-Grant"  Col- 
leges, 76. 

Morgan,  John  T.,  Senator,  on  female 
colleges,  113. 

Morrill  Act  of  1862:  introduced  in 
December,  1861,  6g;  signed  by 
President  Lincoln,  69 ;  provisions 
of,  69-7  2 ;  aggregate  of  land  given 
by,  72;  table  showing  distribution 
of  land  to  states  and  dates  of  open- 
ing of  colleges,  73. 

Morrill  Act  of  1899,  78-79. 

Morrill  Act  of  1890,  77-78. 

Morrill  Bill  of  1857  :  history  of,  67-69; 
vetoed  by  President  Buchanan,  68- 
69 ;   opposed  by  the  South,  68. 

Morrill,  Justin  S.,  66-67 ;  efforts  of 
in  1872  to  get  funds  for  "Land- 
Grant"  Colleges,  75. 

Mortality  statistics :  quoted,  198. 

National  aid  to  public  education : 
older  than  the  Constitution,  5-6; 
needed  in  the  present  crisis,  7 ;  need 
for  in  inverse  ratio  to  wealth,  316. 

National  colleges:  contemplated  by 
Senator  Morrill,  78. 

National  influence,  growth  of,  1. 

National  interest :  outgrowth  of  nation- 
wide needs,  2  ;  not  opposed  to  local 
self-government,  2-3. 

National  safety :  dependent  on  im- 
proved rural  schools,  205. 

National  schools,  90-93. 


INDEX 


361 


National  service  schools,  91. 

National  University  :  N.  E.  A.  reports, 
favoring,  117-118;   need  for,  119. 

Naval  Academy,  established,  92. 

Naval  Training  Stations,  appropria- 
tions for,  92. 

Naval  War  College,  appropriation  for, 
92. 

N.  E.  A.  :  Emergency  Commission  of, 
129;  and  Smith-Towner  Bill,  129- 
130;  and  federal  aid  to  education, 
107-119. 

Nebraska :  status  of  rural  teachers  in, 
225-226. 

Nelson  Act  of  1907,  79. 

Non-English  speaking  elements  in  the 
population,  350-353 ;  increase  of, 
from  1900-1910,  353. 

Normal  Schools:  and  teachers,  238- 
239 ;  and  the  Nation,  239 ;  must  be 
improved,  281 ;  parallel  public 
opinion  of  teaching,  281-282  ;  should 
be  the  best  among  higher  schools, 
281 ;  the  least  attractive  of  all  pro- 
fessional schools,  282 ;  have  been 
meagerly  supported,  282 ;  present 
resources  doubled  by  Smith-Towner 
Bill,  284 ;  should  expand  and  recon- 
struct curricula,  284-285 ;  improved 
personnel  needed,  285 ;  relation  of 
salaries  of  teachers  to  growth  of. 
285  ;  might  adopt  West  Point  policy, 
286-288;  necessity  for,  recognized 
by  the  states,  289 ;  private,  289. 
Northwest  Territory  :  controversy  re- 
garding, 14-15;  Act  of  1780,  re- 
garding, 15  ;  claims  to,  given  up,  15- 
16. 

Ohio  Company  :  first  purchaser  of  land 

from  the  federal  government,  35,  38. 
Oklahoma,  land  grants  to,  31 ;   money 

grants  to,  31 ;   grant  of  $5,000,000  to 

in  1906,  63. 
Ordinance  of  1787,  20. 
Owen,  Senator:    educational  bill,  134- 

135- 

Parents:    right  of  to  educate  children, 

148. 
Pauper-school  idea :  combated  by  New 

Jersey,  277. 
Peabody  Fund,  established,  85. 


Pennsylvania :  qualifications  cf 
teachers  in,  228;  diagrams  showing 
wealth  and  taxation  facts  in  certain 
counties  of,  255;  educational, wealth, 
and  taxation  facts  of,  (table)  256-257. 
Permanent  school  fund :  created  in 
Connecticut,  19. 

Physical  defects:  prevalent  in  rural 
districts,  197-198;  diagram  showing 
prevalence  of,  198;  revealed  by  the 
war,  125-126;  national  loss  from, 
126. 

Physical  fitness,  178. 

Population :  of  school  age  in  different 
divisions  and  states,  291 ;  increase 
of,  demands  12,000  additional 
teachers  each  year,  290;  non- 
English  speaking  elements  in  the, 
350-353 ;  non-English  speaking,  in 
rural  and  urban  communities,  351. 

"Practical,"  demand  for,  94-96. 

Preamble  to  the  Constitution :  means 
national  aid  to  public  education, 
205-207. 

Preparedness :  impossible  without  ade- 
quate public  schools,  205-206. 

Promotion  of  general  welfare :  depend- 
ent on  public  education,  206. 

Provost  Marshal  General's  Report, 
174;   details  of,  175-176. 

Public  Domain  :  practically  exhausted, 

3"- 

Public  Education:  must  be  paid  for 
largely  out  of  current  funds,  312; 
way  to  insure  increasing  effective- 
ness of,  312. 

Public  Lands  Sales  Fund:  decreasing 
and  inadequate  for  support  of "  Land- 
Grant"  Colleges,  78. 

Public  Schools:  effective  agents  for 
publicity  during  the  war,  127-128; 
effective  agents  for  aiding  war 
measures,  128;  and  civilian  morale, 
128;  appreciation  of  by  President 
Wilson,  128;  development  of,  in 
the  South,  144.     (See  Schools.) 

Randolph,  quoted  on  wisdom  of  land 

grants,  44. 
Rate  bill-:   defined,  9;   table  of,  10. 

rea,  defined,  177. 
Rural      school      standards:       depress 

teacher  standards,  212-213. 


362 


INDEX 


Salt  Lands,  45-46. 

Schools,  Colonial,  not  free,  9;  planta- 
tion, 1 1 ;  early,  in  Pennsylvania,  1 1 ; 
religious  sanction  for,  1 2 ;  secular 
sanction  for,  12;  at  the  close  of  the 
revolutionary  period,  13. 

Schools :  defects  of,  revealed  by  War. 
4;  poorest,  where  best  ought  to  be 
124;  rural  and  village,  are  weak 
184;  rural,  problems  of,  are  most 
difficult  and  most  important,  185 
what  are  included  in,  18s  ;  aggregate 
size  of,  185  ;  national  significance  of 
185-186;  rural,  difficulties  of,  186 
necessary  expenses  of  conducting 
186-187  ;  wealth  resources  of,  small 
187  ;  individualism  of  farmer  affects 
187-188;  difficulty  of  securing  good 
teaching  in,  189;  disciplinary 
troubles  in,  189-190;  lack  of  super- 
vision in,  190;  rural,  responsibility 
of,  for  illiteracy,  191 ;  rural,  failed 
to  reach  children  as  Nation's  needs 
demand,  194 ;  rural,  have  responsi- 
bility for  Americanization,  201-202 ; 
rural,  enrollment  of,  chiefly  in  lower 
grades,  202-203 ;  attainment  of, 
below  the  general  average,  204; 
rural  and  urban  compared,  204; 
rural,  better,  a  national  responsi- 
bility, 204-207 ;  rural,  problem  of, 
demands  prepared  teachers,  209; 
poorest,  in  poorest  communities, 
272;  fundamental  problem  of,  281. 

School  Funds :  origin  of,  in  states,  241- 
242 ;  justification  of,  241-242 ;  dis- 
tribution of,  242-243 ;  state  con- 
stitutional provisions  concerning, 
243 ;  really  a  subsidy,  243 ;  in 
different  states,  (table)  244-245. 

School  inefficiency,  236-237. 

Second  Morrill  Act,  77-78. 

Secretary  of  Education :  provided  for, 
in  Owen  Bill,  134;  provided  for 
by  Smith-Towner  Bill,  301-303 ; 
powers  of,  301-303 ;  to  be  educa- 
tional leader  rather  than  executive, 
302-304 ;  and  politics,  306-307. 

Shortage  of  teachers :  meaning  of,  230- 
231. 

Sixteenth  Amendment :  income  tax, 
266-267  I  314- 

Slater  Fund,  established,  85. 


Smith,  Senator  Hoke:  introduced 
educational  bills,  135,  142.  ^ 

Smith-Hughes  Act,  97-100;  approved, 
97;   precedents  set  by,  99-100. 

Smith-Hughes  Bill :  indorsed  by 
N.  E.  A.,  116-117. 

Smith-Lever  Act,  79-80. 

Smith-Towner  Bill :  introduced  in 
Congress,  142 ;  general  provisions 
of,  142-143 ;  distribution  of  funds 
to  states  for  removal  of  illiteracy, 
151-152;  not  prescriptive  as  to 
methods  or  devices  for  the  removal 
of  illiteracy,  153  ;  how  its  provisions 
would  operate  in  removing  illiteracy, 
i53-I54;  and  Americanization,  168- 
169;  stimulates  the  states,  168; 
provisions  regarding  health  educa- 
tion, 179-180;  provisions  of,  relative 
to  equalization  of  educational  oppor- 
tunities, 270,  272-273;  provisions 
of  for  preparation  of  teachers,  283- 
284;  provisions  of,  regarding  secre- 
tary of  education,  301-303 ;  com- 
plete text  of,  336-349. 

Smithsonian  Institution,  supported  by 
U.  S.  A.,  93- 

South:  education  in,  at  close  of  Civil 
War,  83-84. 

Southern  Education  Board,  work  of, 
144. 

Specific  Grants,  51-52. 

State  Funds:  distribution  of,  in 
Pennsylvania,  does  not  equalize 
local  tax  rates,  254. 

State  Taxes:  for  support  of  schools, 
(table)  244-245;  distribution  of, 
246 ;  theory  of,  246 ;  distribution  to 
counties  does  not  equalize  local 
rates  or  educational  opportunities, 
251 ;   actually  lower  local  rates,  251. 

State  universities:  early  ones  did  not 
meet  the  needs  of  pioneers,  64-65. 

States :  cannot  solve  educational  prob- 
lems alone,  312-313;  are  interde- 
pendent economically,  319;  are 
interdependent  educationally,  310- 
320. 

States  not  receiving  Federal  land 
grants  in  aid  of  public  education, 
20-30;  Vermont,  30;  Maine,  30; 
West  Virginia,  30;  Texas,  30; 
Tennessee,  30. 


INDEX 


363 


Statistics,  Mortality,  quoted,  198. 

Straight  University,  established,  85. 

Student  interpreters:  trained  at  gov- 
ernment expense,  93. 

Subsidies  for  teachers  in  training,  287. 

Subvention,  defined,  310. 

Surgeon  General's  Report,  173-174. 

Surplus  Revenue  Act,  55-591  really  a 
deposit  of  funds  with  the  states,  56 ; 
table  showing  distribution  to  the 
states  and  uses  by  the  several  states, 
57-60. 

Swamp  Lands:  granted  to  states,  48- 
50;   334- 

Swift,  F.  H.,  quoted  on  permanent 
common  school  funds,  54,  57-60, 
243- 

Tax  for  support  of  schools :  made 
compulsory,  10;  in  Connecticut 
Colony,  10;  grew  out  of  funds 
derived  from  Lot  No.  16. 

Tax  rates:    in  Pennsylvania  counties, 

254- 

Taxable  Wealth:  variations  in,  269; 
(and  table  on  page  268). 

Taxation  for  public  schools:  estab- 
lished with  difficulty,  240-241 ; 
followed  precedent  State  School 
Funds,  242. 

Taxes :  Federal,  266. 

Teachers:  shortage  of,  due  to  War, 
4-5;  the  soul  and  substance  of 
every  school,  208;  need  to  acquire 
technique,  208 ;  immature  and  un- 
trained, 208-212;  born  and  made, 
209 ;  prerequisites  of  becoming,  208- 
209 ;  preparation  of,  necessary,  209 ; 
prepared,  necessary  in  rural  schools, 
209 ;  rural  school,  characteristics  of, 
210-211;  transient  in  service,  211; 
tenure  of,  211;  prepared,  needed, 
21 1 ;  should  be  chosen  from  best 
talent,  211;  described,  219-222; 
pictures  of,  219-222;  number  of, 
220;  educational  equipment  of,  220- 
221;  experience  of,  22 1 ;  in  Alabama, 
222-225;  rural,  in  Nebraska,  225- 
226;  qualifications  of,  in  Wisconsin, 
226-227  ;  qualifications  of,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 228;  present  shortage  of, 
229-231;  and  normal  schools,  238- 
239;    key  to  equalizing  educational 


opportunities,  249 ;  necessary  to  save 
what  we  gained  in  the  war,  279; 
remedy  for  present  situation  regard- 
ing, 279;  national  servants,  279; 
preparation  of,  in  Smith-Towner 
Bill,  282-284 ;  recruited  from  middle 
class,  288;  number  of,  in  different 
states,  2gi ;  tendency  to  lower  stand- 
ards for,  290,  292. 

Teaching:  a  casual  and  temporary 
occupation,  126;  average  salary  for, 
127;  regarded  by  public  as  a  part- 
time  occupation,  213  ;  is  a  transitory 
occupation,  213-214;  a  source  of 
pin  money,  213  ;  traditional  attitude 
toward,  213-214;  a  temporary  em- 
ployment for  "home  girls,"  215; 
open  to  graduates  of  the  home  school, 
215 ;  not  usually  open  to  married 
women,  215-216;  not  attractive  to 
those  who  ought  to  enter  it,  216; 
meager  compensation  for,  213-216; 
present  crisis  in,  216-217;  does  not 
compete  with  other  callings  open  to 
youth,  217-218;  classes  now  pre- 
paring for,  218-219;  personnel  of 
force,  210-222. 

Teaching  profession :  status  of,  is  low, 
184-185. 

Textbook:  why  so  important  in  our 
public  schools,  231. 

Third  Morrill  Act,  78-70- 

Town  meeting:  educational  signifi- 
cance of,  8-9. 

Towner,  Representative  H.  M.,  intro- 
duced Smith-Towner  Bill  in  House, 
142. 

Typhoid  fever,  in  Alabama,  174. 

Updegraff,  H.  D.,  quoted  on  equaliza- 
tion, 255. 

Upper  Schools:  plan  for  by  Dr. 
McCosh,  107-108. 

Utah,  grant  of  land  to,  31. 

Van     Hise,     President:      report     on 

National  University,  118. 
Vermont :       Spanish-American      War 

claims,  62-63. 
Virginia:    reservation  of  land  in  Ohio 

as  bounty  for  revolutionary  troops, 

is- 
Vocational  Education :  94-100. 


364 


INDEX 


Wages  and  the  War,  123-124. 

War:  reveals  defects  in  educational 
system,  120;  and  education,  in 
England,  120;  modern,  and  illit- 
erates, 121 ;  and  non-English  speak- 
ing aliens,  121-123;  as  related  to 
the  support  of  education,  123-124; 
and  physical  defects,  125-126. 

War  and  wages,  123-124. 

Washington  County,  Pa.,  taxation 
facts  regarding,  (table)  260. 

Wayland  Seminary,  established,  85. 

Weakest  Links,  184-239. 

Wealth :  taxable,  in  the  counties  of 
Wisconsin,  for  each  person,  252-253  ; 
for  each  child  of  school  age,  252-253  ; 
variations  in  taxable,  268-269;  re- 
lated to  population  and  school  popu- 
lation, by  divisions  and  states,  270- 
271 ;  not  a  matter  of  state  lines, 
318;  due  to  reciprocal  relations,  318- 
319;  of  U.  S.  by  sections,  (map)  267. 


West  Point,  established,  91. 

West  Point  policy :  applied  to  normal 
schools,  286-288. 

White,  Emerson  E.,  and  Bureau  of 
Education,  87. 

Wilson,  President:  letter  to  public 
school  teachers,  128. 

Winship,  A.  E.,  resolution  in  N.  E.  A. 
by,  in  1884,  114. 

Wisconsin :  qualifications  of  teachers 
in,  226-227;  educational  and  wealth 
facts  concerning  counties  of,  252-253. 

Wood,  T.  D.,  quoted  on  health  defects, 
198. 

World  War:  revealed  teaching  as  a 
casual  and  temporary  occupation, 
126-127 !  revealed  strength  of  public 
school  system,  130-133  ;  rapid  prep- 
aration for,  facilitated  by  previous 
work  of  public  school  system,  131 ; 
and  high  school  graduates,  131- 
132. 


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